ESPN

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Marco Pappa and Dominic Oduro scored in the first 26 minutes and the Chicago Fire earned a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday.

The victory moved the Fire (7-5-3) within three points of third-place New York in the Eastern Conference. Columbus, dominated from the start by the Fire, had entered the game with a six-match unbeaten streak (3-0-3).

The Crew's last loss was on April 28, 1-0 to Vancouver.

Pappa maneuvered to the edge of the penalty area, and using a screen, ripped a right-footed shot off the hands of diving goalkeeper Andy Gruenbaum in the second minute.

Oduro made it 2-0 in the 26th minute, outrunning a pair of defenders while in control of Sebastian Grazzini's pass before chipping the ball past Gruenbaum from 15 yards.

Columbus' Tony Tchani cut the gap to 2-1 in the 36th minute, taking a pass from fellow midfielder Chris Birchall and beating Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson from 10 yards.

Chicago's Gonzalo Segares was ejected in the 29th minute when his right foot clipped the right shin of Columbus' Kevin George while they slid for a loose ball. George remained in the match, while Segares will miss Chicago's match Friday at Kansas City.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Gonzalo Segares and Chris Rolfe scored in the second half to lead the Chicago Fire to a 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Sunday.

Segares' goal came in the 68th minute on a short rebound of his pass to Dominic Oduro, who misfired. Segares followed up and put a point-blank shot past goalkeeper Ryan Meara to snap a 1-all tie.

The goal came four minutes after the Fire appeared to take the lead. Oduro's 15-yard shot clearly crossed the goal line before New York defender Wilman Conde slid and cleared the ball to the sideline, but neither referee Baldomero Toledo nor assistant referee Ian Anderson saw it. Replays showed the ball in the goal and Anderson well up the sideline, out of position to confirm the goal.

Rolfe made it 3-1 in the 81st minute, taking a low pass from Patrick Nyarko in the goalmouth and converting.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Fire. New York had been 5-0-1 in its last six MLS matches, but hadn't played a league match since May 23.

Nyarko had opened the scoring in the fourth minute, heading Sebastian Grazzini's pass to Meara's right as the goalkeeper lunged to the left.

New York's Dax McCarty tied the game on a set-piece header in the 55th minute. Lurking on the left side, McCarty headed in the long corner-kick cross from Mehdi Ballouchy. Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson failed to adjust for McCarty's header.

New York was without the services of star forward Thierry Henry, out with a calf strain in his right leg. That allowed Chicago defender Jalil Anibama to shadow forward Kenny Cooper tightly.

About 10 minutes from opening a comfortable lead in its semifinal group of World Cup qualifying, the United States stumbled.

Marco Pappa scored on a free kick in the 83rd minute, giving Guatemala a 1-1 tie with the Americans on Tuesday night

Clint Dempsey put the U.S. ahead in the 40th minute, but Fabian Johnson pulled down Carlos Ruiz just outside the penalty area to set up the late free kick in a dangerous position. Pappa, a Chicago Fire midfielder, froze goalkeeper Tim Howard with a 24-yard shot that went just under the crossbar.

"When you control the game the way we did, especially after we scored the goal and passed around the ball really well, you're a bit disappointed when something like that happens," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "But overall it was a good game from our end. I'm happy with the performance. I would love three points but I will take it the way it is."

The 28th-ranked Americans were outshot 13-11 by 85th-ranked Guatemala, a team that has never qualified for the World Cup.

Seeking its seventh straight appearance in soccer's showcase, the U.S. (1-0-1) tops Group A of North and Central America and the Caribbean on goal difference over Jamaica (1-0-1), which tied 0-0 tie at Antigua and Barbuda. Guatemala (0-1-1) and Antigua (0-1-1) have one point each.

The top two teams advance to next year's six-nation regional finals, which will produce three qualifiers for the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

"I think it's an open group, and it will be a competition until the very last game," Klinsmann said. "We wanted three points but we're OK with the one point that we take away leading the group."

The Americans extended their unbeaten streak against Guatemala to 18 games (12-0-6) since 1988 and improved to 6-0-5 against the Guatemalans in World Cup qualifying.

Dempsey scored his 27th international goal off a play that started with a short pass from Johnson on the left. Dempsey cut across to his right, taking two touches as he sidestepped slipping defenders Carlos Gallardo and Erwin Morales, then wrong-footed Ricardo Jerez Jr. with a right-footed shot from 16 yards to the goalkeeper's right.

It was Dempsey's 28th goal of the season for club and country, including 23 for England's Fulham.

Just before the goal, Howard made a diving save on Carlos Figueroa's open 10-yard shot from an angle. Ruiz nearly tied the score in first-half injury time, hooking just wide on a left-footed shot from the top of the arc.

Johnson returned to left back after missing Friday's game because of a strained calf muscle.

Klinsmann gave Geoff Cameron his World Cup qualifying debut, bringing him in to start the second half in place of Clarence Goodson, who had gotten a yellow card in the 23rd.

Guatemala coach Ever Hugo Almeida used all three substitutes to start the second half, just as he did Friday. Pappa, Manuel Leon and Dwight Pezzarossi replaced Figueroa, Jose Contreras and Mario Rodriguez.

When the second half started, Pezzarossi just missed with a header that went narrowly over the crossbar following a corner kick.

Guatemala argued unsuccessfully for a penalty kick after American defender Carlos Bocanegra kicked a clearance up off his own hand. Jozy Altidore entered at forward for Herculez Gomez in the 64th minute.

Howard made a diving stop on Rodriguez's 5-yard in shot in the 69th after a corner kick was headed in front of the goal. Then, with the net wide open, Ruiz skied the rebound over the crossbar.

Altidore was open and put the ball in the net in the 79th, only play had been whistled by referee Joel Aguilar of El Salvador.

Notes

The game was shown on pay-per-view in the U.S. after the Guatemalan federation, which owns the rights, sold them to Traffic Sports. ... The U.S. next plays in an exhibition on Aug. 15, most likely at Mexico. The Americans resume qualifying Sept. 7 at Jamaica, then host the Reggae Boyz four days later at Columbus, Ohio. ... Johnson received a yellow card for the foul that led to the tying goal. Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu also received yellow cards.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Second-half substitute Kelyn Rowe broke a scoreless game in the 70th minute to lift the Revolution to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night.

Rowe, who came on in the 64th minute, gave the Revolution the advantage while Benny Feilhaber added another in the 73rd minute. Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis made three saves to preserve the shutout, his second of the season.

The win snapped the Revolution's two-game winless streak and upped their record to 5-7-1 (16 points). Meanwhile, the Fire dropped their second straight and fell to 5-5-3 (21 points).

The Revs and Fire struggled to find scoring chances in the first half, as Reis and Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson were rarely tested.

Chicago nearly got on the board in the 48th minute when Orr Borouch sent it to Dominic Oduro, who's header ricocheted off the post.

Four minutes later, Sebastian Grazzini hit one from outside the box and forced Reis to the dive before Patrick Nyarko put a foot on it at the near post.

But the Revolution attack came to life in the second half. Six minutes after he entered the match, Rowe took a hold of pass from Feilhaber and flicked it through to put the Revolution on top.

Rowe returned the favor in the 73rd minute when he played a diagonal ball to Feilhaber, who redirected it past Johnson to cap the scoring.

The Revolution return to action in two weeks when they face the Columbus Crew on June 16 at home. The Fire head home to face the New York Red Bulls on June 17.

PONTIAC, Mich. -- Nermin Crnkic's extra-time goal gave the Michigan Bucks a 3-2 victory Tuesday night over the Chicago Fire of the MLS in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup.

The Bucks of the USL Premier Development League took a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute when Tommy Catalano beat Chicago goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi. Michigan outplayed Chicago for most of the first half, but the Fire tied the game on Corben Bone's goal in the 28th minute.

Federico Puppo's shot from the edge of the box in the 51st minute gave the Fire a 2-1 lead, but Nate Boyden's header forced extra time in the 78th minute.

Crnkic hit the winning goal in the third minute of extra time.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Eddie Gaven scored Columbus' first goal and assisted on the second by Emilio Renteria as the Crew defeated the Chicago Fire 2-1 on Saturday night.

Gaven scored from 19 yards in the 9th minute with a low shot inside the left post for Columbus (5-4-3), which has won two straight and is 3-0-2 in its last five.

Gaven helped make it 2-0 in the 43rd by passing to a posting Renteria, who shirked defender Austin Berry and put the ball into the left corner of the net.

Berry got a measure of revenge when he headed in a service by Daniel Paladini in the 72nd minute for Chicago (5-4-3).

The Fire's Sean Johnson made saves on Renteria in the 80th and Nemanja Vukovic in the 81st minutes to keep the match close.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Sebastian Grazzini and Marco Pappa scored and goalkeeper Sean Johnson stopped a penalty kick as the Chicago Fire rallied for a 2-1 victory over FC Dallas on Wednesday night.

The Fire (5-3-3) won for the third time in five matches to remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Defender Matt Hedges scored in the 41st minute to put FC Dallas (3-7-4) on the board first. Dallas extended its winless streak to eight matches (0-5-3) and remained winless on the road (0-5-1).

Grazzini tied the score in the 45th minute, lofting a 25-yard left-footed shot over Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman's right shoulder.

Johnson stopped Blas Perez's penalty kick in the 52nd minute, diving to his right to get a hand on the low shot. The attempt was ordered when Fire forward Dominic Oduro tripped Bruno Guarda from behind near the goal line.

Pappa got the tiebreaker in the 63rd on rebound off a penalty kick by Grazzini. Pappa was three steps into the penalty area before Grazzini launched his kick, but no infraction was detected by referee Hilario Grajeda, and Pappa converted the rebound with goalkeeper Kevin Hartman on the turf. The penalty kick resulted from Dallas defender Zach Loyd pulling Pappa down as they chased a loose ball into the penalty area.

Eric Brunner's goal in the 19th minute broke a three-match scoring drought and the Portland Timbers went on to defeat the Chicago Fire 2-1 on Sunday.

An own goal in the 52nd minute proved to be the winner for the Timbers (3-5-3), who had played to scoreless draws in their last two matches.

"Maybe it wasn't pretty at times, but it was the three points that we needed," Timbers striker Kris Boyd said.

Jalil Anibaba scored the lone goal for the Fire (4-3-3), stopping a three-game unbeaten streak. The loss also snapped a two-game winning streak on the road for Chicago.

The Timbers were coming off a 0-0 draw at Houston on Tuesday. That followed a scoreless result at home against the Columbus Crew on May 5 and a 2-0 shutout by Montreal the week before.

The victory pulled Portland ahead of the struggling Los Angeles Galaxy for last place in the Western Conference.

Brunner picked up the loose ball after Boyd's flailing bicycle kick off a header from Hanyer Mosquera, firing it past Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson in the early going. It was the first goal by a Timbers player in the team's last 446 minutes of play.

Going into the match, the Timbers were scoreless in 321 minutes -- the longest drought in the MLS this season. Portland's last score was an own goal against Sporting KC on April 21. The last Timbers player to score was Boyd on April 14 in a 3-1 loss at the Los Angeles Galaxy.

"You set the tone when you score the first goal, and that's what we wanted to do," Brunner said.

Chicago's Pavel Pardo was unguarded when he fired a shot at Timbers goalkeeper Troy Perkins, who leaped and grabbed it out of the air for a spectacular save in the 37th minute.

But Perkins couldn't get to Anibaba's rip into the corner two minutes later to tie it at 1. That ended Perkins' streak of 377 minutes without allowing a goal.

The match got chippy as the first half wound down, with Chicago's Patrick Nyarko and Portland's Mike Chabala getting into a shoving match that resulted in yellow cards for both players.

The Timbers went ahead on the own goal that came off the knee of Fire midfielder Logan Pause after Sal Zizzo's corner kick deflected off Boyd.

"It's a huge win," Perkins said. "It puts us real close to being in the middle of the pack. A couple of more results go our way and we're right in there."

The Fire continued to deal with injuries on their back line, with Arne Friedrich down with a right hamstring injury and Cory Gibbs out for an extended period after a meniscus tear in his right knee.

Portland was without captain Jack Jewsbury because of a pelvic strain. Midfielder Diego Chara wore the captain's armband against the Fire.

Timbers defenseman Futty Danso was serving a one-game suspension imposed by Major League Soccer for striking Dynamo forward Calen Carr across the head Tuesday.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Sebastian Grazzini and Dominic Oduro scored in the second half to help the Chicago Fire beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Saturday night.

Chicago, fourth in the Eastern Conference, improved to 4-2-3 overall and 3-1-2 in its last six game. Eastern Conference-leading Kansas City has lost three straight to drop to 7-3-0.

Oduro broke a tie in the 81st minute with his team-leading fourth goal of the season. Kansas City forward Kei Kamara misplayed a loose ball 5 yards from his goal, and Chicago's Patrick Nyarko fed Oduro in the middle for an easy shot past goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen.

The Fire tied it on Grazzini's penalty kick into the upper right corner in the 61st minute. The kick was triggered by Kansas City defender Aurelien Collin taking down Oduro from behind in the penalty area. The goal ended Chicago's scoreless string of 151 minutes, plus stoppage time.

Less than a minute later, Grazzini was dropped to the grass by the hard left elbow of leaping Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza, who was ejected for the foul.

Kansas City opened the scoring on midfielder Bobby Convey's goal exactly 30 minutes into the match. He deflected Espinoza's pass past goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

Chicago lost defender Arne Fredrich to a pulled right hamstring only 2 minutes earlier. Dan Gargan replaced Fredrich just before Convey scored.

CARSON, Calif. -- Marco Pappa scored in the second minute of stoppage time to send the Chicago Fire to a 2-1 victory over Chivas USA on Friday.

In the 92nd minute, the Guatemalan received a pass from second half substitute Frederico Puppo and then made a shot from nearly 30 yards that beat a diving Dan Kennedy.

Chivas (3-6-0) opened the scoring when Juan Pablo Angel scored on a penalty kick in the 23rd minute.

Chicago (3-2-2) tied it two minutes later when Sebastian Grazzini played a looping pass to Austin Berry, who made a chance from close range for his first career MLS goal.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Michael Gspurning extended his shutout streak to 337 minutes before allowing a late goal, and David Estrada and Eddie Johnson scored in the Seattle Sounders' 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night.

Seattle improved to 4-1-1 with its sixth straight victory on the road going back to last season. The road winning streak is one off the MLS record held by Los Angeles and D.C. United. Chicago dropped to 2-2-2.

Estrada opened the scoring in the 39th minute. His low kick caromed off Fire defender Arne Friedrich and past goalkeeper Sean Johnson. Johnson made it 2-0 in the 67th minute. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado half-fanned from 8 yards out, and Johnson ran up and finished it off.

Chicago's Marco Pappa scored in the 89th minute, curling a corner kick in off the left post to end Gspurning's shutout streak.

Pappa appeared to have tied it at 1 in the 63rd minute, but two Chicago players were ruled offside, including Dominic Oduro, who collided with Gspurning as Pappa's shot flew by.

Gspurning's last big save came on Jalil Alibaba's point-blank stop in the sixth minute of extra time. A shoving match after the final whistle was broken up with no punches thrown.

ESPNChicago.com writer Scoop Jackson is spending this week trying to prove that when it comes to sports, there is no city like Chicago.

Saturday

The day I decide not to go to see the Cubs is the day they decide to ball.

But when one has choices as one has today...

Option 1: Cubs vs. Reds
Option 2: Fire vs. FC (Toronto)
Option 3: White Sox vs. Mariners
Option 4: Wolves vs. Rampage
Option 5: Rush vs. Mustangs
Option 6: Bulls vs. Mavericks
Option 7: Blackhawks vs. Coyotes. Game 5

I don’t know if any other city in America can claim days like this on the calendar when it comes to professional sports. Seven teams all in action on one day.

Options.

So try doing this: Wake up at 5 a.m. to take youngest son to school on a Saturday because he’s in the band and the band is in a competition that starts at 7 a.m. Go back home. Take other son to driver’s education at another school at 10 a.m. Turn on WGN at noon to see what Cubs team is going to show up. Leave in the middle of the first inning to pick up kids. Return home, Cubs are winning 5-1. Find the Fire/Toronto match on TV. Scream “Goal!!!!!” 25 seconds into the match when the Fire score. Turn to White Sox game. Phil Humber looks good early. Go to get oil changed in the car. Come back, Humber still looks good. Leave home, head to United Center. Word is Derrick Rose might play. Get to UC, hear two words: Perfect game! Find out Rose is playing. Watch Bulls starting lineup start a game together for only the 13th time all season. Leave at halftime. Get home just in time for Game 5 puck drop. My son screams downstairs, “The Bulls are up by 10!” Go online to see Humber highlights. Text Kenny Williams. Check CN100 for Wolves update. They won. Eat dinner. Immerse myself into overtime No. 5. Goal! Text Blackhawks media relations coordinator for possible credentials to Game 6. Begin to write blog you are currently reading. Get response from Blackhawks: “See You Monday!”

The ability to watch, pay attention to or get locked into six professional games all in the same day? Unheard of. The chances of being a part of a day where the city you live in goes 7-0? Incredible. And, in the middle of it all, the 21st perfect game pitched in Major League history? Priceless.

We live for days like this. We live in Chicago because of days like this.

Scoop's Day 5

Scoop's Day 4

Scoop's Day 3

Scoop's Day 2

Scoop's Day 1

TORONTO -- Patrick Nyarko scored in the 58th minute, and the Chicago Fire beat winless Toronto FC 3-2 on Saturday.

Toronto (0-6-0) is tied for the second-worst start in MLS history. Kansas City opened the 1999 season 0-7-0. Toronto has a combined 1-7-2 record in CONCACAF Champions League and MLS play this season, getting outscored 23-11.

Dominic Oduro and Gonzalo Segares also scored for Chicago (2-1-2). Reggie Lambe scored both Toronto goals.

Oduro's through ball to Nyarko split the Toronto defense to set up the winning score. Goalkeeper Milo Kocic rushed out, but Nyarko dribbled past him and sent the ball home.

CHICAGO -- Chris Rolfe is returning to Major League Soccer and the Chicago Fire.

The 29-year-old American forward rejoined the Fire on Monday when he left Denmark's Aalborg after three seasons.

Rolfe scored 40 goals in 149 games with the Fire in all competitions from 2005-09. He had six goals in 32 matches over three seasons with Aalborg.

Rolfe has made 10 appearances with the U.S. national team.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Logan Pause scored in the 27th minute to lifted the Chicago Fire to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on on Sunday night in a match shortened to 66 minutes due to lightning.

Will Bruin opened the scoring for Houston (2-1-1) in the 24th minute with a low shot from 14 yards out after taking a pass from Brian Ching. Bruin's shot whistled low and to the right of Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson, making his first start of the season following his stint with the U.S. Olympic team.

The advantage lasted only three minutes before Pause, diving out of the way of teammate Pavel Pardo's free kick, deflected the shot off the crossbar and into the net for Chicago (1-1-2).

The second lightning delay of the match resulted in the decision to end it 24 minutes early.

The first delay, in the 13th minute, was triggered by two lightning strikes near Toyota Park. Those prompted referee Geoff Gamble to rush the teams off the field. The delay lasted 1 hour, 8 minutes before the match was resumed, but another cell stopped play in the 66th minute. After a 40 minute wait, the match was called.

Chicago defender Arne Friedrich, a veteran of two World Cups for Germany, made his regular season debut for the Fire.

Houston was without three midfield regulars, including Brad Davis, runner-up for MLS MVP in 2011. Adam Moffet was serving a one-game suspension, while Colin Clark was out for the first of three games for verbal abuse of a ball boy in Houston's last match.