Not a lot of fanfare but the sweep is complete with a 2-0 win against the Pirates. 

I eat more crow as Marquis, even though it was against a struggling team, has a great outing.  Marquis goes seven innings giving up 5 hits no walks and striking out three. 

On the offensive side, you gotta love Reed Johnson.  With LaRoche playing back at third, Reed places a prefect bunt for a hit.  Then the, I’m having a career year in every category, I can play any position like a Gold Glove Player, fellow MLBlogger, Mark DeRosa steps up and doubles to left sending Reed to third. A soft ground ball and a sacrifice bunt later and the Cubs would get all they would need to complete the sweep.  But you like to see the team doing this when the big bats go a little silent…manufacture runs.

The Cubs did what they had to do, sweep a weaker team in their own park.  Now the Cubs face the tougher half of Pennsylvania, the Phillies. The Cubs host a big four game series against the, at least for today, NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies. The Brewers, after their night game at St Louis, get the day off and then go to the weaker half of PA. to face the Pirates for a three game series.  Folks this is wear the rubber meets the road.  If the Cubs can come out of this series with a four game lead over the Brewers they will have made a huge statement going into the last month of the season. 

So let’s get down to the business of Next Century Is Here.

Winning ugly was just given a new definition. When you look in the box score you’ll see the score as 14-9 and you’ll think the Cubs had this one in the bag.  Anything but. Without a huge seven run eighth inning the Cubs lose this one 9-7.  Without the big bat of Geo the Cubs lose 9-7.  But the Cubs did have the big eighth and the big bat of Soto, so they did win 14-9 and with this win ensure a series win against the Pirates and thus a nine series winning streak.  The first time this has been achieved since 1907.  Hmmmmm….seeing a pattern here.  Next Century Is Here.

Big Z just did not have it today, leaving in the fifth, giving up six runs, walking four and striking out three.

Looks like the Brewers are going to win game one of the mini-series in St. Louis as they too put a big number seven on the board, but theirs was in the top of the ninth.  Unlike the Cubs, the Brewers have had this one in hand since the start and at the time of this entry are up 12-0 against the Cards.  The Cards will fall 9.5 games out of first as well as 4.5 games off the pace for the wild card.

Cubs, they have to keep winning because that Brewer team just will not lose.  Come on Cards split this series.  Next Century Is Here.

This is exactly what you like to see.  The scenario; the Cubs are playing against a struggling team that has basically been dismantled because of injuries and trades, the Cards and Brewers are idle.  The Cubs give the Bucs an old fashion butt whooping and gain a half a game on the two trailing teams.

What else do you like to see; Fukudome adding to his pitch-hit home run yesterday with a cool 3 for 4 including a double and four RBI.  Lee, who has been quietly struggling also goes 3 for 4.  Soriano & Edmonds go 3 for 5, both have been relatively quiet as well.  Ramirez goes yard.  Lilly pitched a great game and ironically his only mistakes were serving up two long balls to lefties.

Before anybody starts thinking that I should stop getting all giggly with myself; it was only the Pirates.  I say, exactly, these are the teams we are suppose to beat this way. When we out play and out manager a tough win against a very competitive team I get excited.  Similarly,  when we come out to play (and that is the key) against a struggling team and kick butt, I get excited.

The Cards and Brewers start their mini-series tomorrow so it is important to keep on winning and then put more distance between us and one of them and keep status quo with the other.  Go Cards }-:  Next Century Is Here.

The Chicago Cubs, coming of f one of their most stunning road series sweeps, get shut out at home for the first time all season by Jeff Karstens. Yes, you know Jeff Karstens, who pitched all of 57 inning with the Yankees the last two years and now comes into Wrigley Field and shuts downs the mighty Cubs bats.

The great thing about the Cubs these past few weeks is you never know what team is going to take the field.  Will it be the team that scores 31 runs off the Milwaukee Brewers, the team with the 5th ranked ERA in the National League, or will it be the team that only mustards up five hits and no runs off Jeff Karstens?  I guess that’s why you play the game; I hoped we could somehow steal two games from Milwaukee in the four game series and we sweep them.  Then I was all but counting today’s game as the sixth win in a row and we don’t even score a run.

Not that I know what I’m taking about, but it doesn’t appear to get easier tomorrow.  The Pirates put Maholm on the mound and all he has done in his last ten games is win four and lose one with a 2.89 ERA.  The Cubs have Lilly going who has won five and lost one with a 3.63 ERA in his last ten games.  It will probably be a slug-fest.

Let’s see if the Cubs can get back to their home ways and put this game in the W column.  With the Cards and Brewers winning today they both climbed to only four games out.  As I was saying in my last entry, this team not only has to beat the teams chasing them but they also have to beat the teams they are suppose to beat.

Let’s show the MLB that Next Century Is Here.