When fog engulfed Chicago: A look at Monday's Cubs and White Sox games

Mist began to creep over Wrigley as the Cubs and Reds warmed up for the second game of a four-game set. 

This baby had never seen a baseball game. Sadly, that's probably still true:

Visibility was an issue early on:

And it didn't take long for the weather of affect play:

Zack Cozart would come around to score on a Brandon Phillips single, giving Cincinnati a 1-0 lead.

Jay Bruce probably didn't want anything hit in his direction:

brutal "@brandabur: @ctrent here is Bruce's view twitter.com/Brandabur/stat…"

- ctrent (@ctrent) June 11, 2013

Vendors couldn't find their customers:

Phillips, on the other hand, had no problem seeing through the haze. He struck again with a grand slam off Scott Feldman (L, 6 IP, 7H, 5 ER, 2 Ks) in the third:

The Reds second baseman matched a career high with his sixth RBI later in the game and also flashed some leather. The long ball was Phillips' 152nd with Cincinnati, tying him with Joe Morgan for the most by a keystone in club history.  

"For me to hit the ball the way I did today, I think the fog wasn't [there] when I was up to bat," Phillips said.  "Maybe it was when everyone else was up to bat."

"I was hoping [the fog] would make it harder for them to pick up the ball," Feldman said. "But apparently it didn't work."

Meanwhile, Reds starter Homer Bailey (W, 8 IP, 4 H, R, 2 BB, 8 Ks) shut down Chicago's offense, allowing just six baserunners and an unearned run (on Phillips' throwing error) over eight frames.

The Reds had a 6-2 victory when all was said and done, moving to within 3 1/2 games of St. Louis in the NL Central. Enjoy one last ghostly highlight reel from Wrigley:

Now let's take a trip south to U.S. Cellular Field: 

We'll get to the game. But first, talk about utility man/interview sensation Muni Kawasaki warming up with fans in the first row:

Everyone loose? Good, on with the show ...

You'd think an R.A. Dickey knuckleball plus fog would equal bad news for the White Sox, right?

Adam Dunn had other ideas. After Jose Bautista blasted Chicago to a 2-0 lead in the first, the White Sox rallied for three runs in the second and Dunn took Dickey (L, 5 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, BB) deep an inning later to give the South Siders a 4-2 lead.

Four batters later, umpires deemed the fog too dense to play through. A 70-minute delay ensued:

Players may or may not have been able to find their dugouts:

Soxman -- an adult wearing tube socks on his head in public -- attempted to blow away the clouds:

The fog finally lifted (a little) and Joey Bats hit his second homer of the day to put Toronto up 5-4. Said Sox starter Dylan Axelrod: "I didn't see all those home runs go out, so that was cool."

Luckily for Axelrod (4 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 1 K) and the Sox, the Blue Jays' lead was short-lived. Enter the man they call Big Donkey once again:

"If that one didn't go out, I was just going to keep running," Dunn said. "I don't know where it went, but as long as they go over I don't care."  ESPN measured the blast's distance at over 450 feet. The game was Dunn's first four-hit effort since May, 2011.

Chicago's bullpen finished the game with six straight scoreless frames -- thanks to some help from Alexei Ramirez and Paul Konerko, among others -- en route to a 10-6 win.

Now only one question remains: Where will The Mist go next?

-- Matt Monagan / MLB.com

Photos via Evan Vlandem and Brian Bullpen, MLB.Com Real-Time Correspondents