Game of the Day | O's solve Cubs' hex at Wrigley Field

CHICAGO — Brian Roberts might have been playing a lot of games at Wrigley Field instead of making a stop with the Baltimore Orioles' on their first visit to the historic ballpark.

Rampant offseason trade rumors had him on the verge of joining the Chicago Cubs — and whether they were on target or not — he showed Tuesday night why he attracted so much interest.

Roberts had three hits to reach 1,000 for his career, closer George Sherrill struck out the side after the Cubs loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and the Orioles ended Chicago's 14-game home-field winning streak with a 7-5 victory.

"It's a great atmosphere," Roberts said. "The fans love their baseball. ... What we dealt with for four months you think about it a little bit. It's just a fun night to be part of."

The Orioles led 7-1 but it got tense over the last few innings, especially the ninth.

Chicago loaded the bases off ex-Mariner Sherrill on Geovany Soto's single, a walk to Mark DeRosa and Ryan Theriot's infield single before the left-hander found his strikeout pitch and got his 26th save in 29 chances.

He struck out Ronny Cedeno, Kosuke Fukudome and Henry Blanco to end the game.

"It makes it a little more stressful, but I don't get nervous out there," Sherrill said. "I get nervous when it's someone else, not me."

Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose team lost at home for the first time since May 17, wasn't happy with his team's final three at-bats.

"It was a good comeback. We got too far behind. ... We didn't have three good at-bats with the bases loaded. We didn't swing at strikes," Piniella said.

"We got to put the ball in play and we couldn't," Blanco said. "You do the best you can. This guy has 26 saves in the big leagues, and you knew it wouldn't be easy."

Roberts had two singles and his sixth triple of the season, giving him 1,000 hits.

"I didn't really think about it. But if it is a big hit, it makes it a little more significant," Roberts said. "It didn't seem like it at the time, but later in the game it turned out to be."