When, in the third inning last night, Carlos Zambrano stalked around the mound briefly, causing trainer Mark O'Neal and Lou Piniella to run out and check him out, we figured it might have been another cramping episode and that they'd have to send him back to the clubhouse for a banana break.

Turned out to be something much more prosaic, as revealed in the postgame news conference: in his last start in Cincinnati, Z had scraped his arm diving back into first base after his fifth-inning single, and the scab had come off. That, plus the rather biting cold last night, caused Z to come back for the next inning wearing long sleeves.

That solved the problem, though Mike thinks he might just need more bananas (along with some thoughts about how D-Lee and Dome might approach a Cub fan's loyalty test):

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It was that kind of night, as the Cubs had yet another laugher of a win, 12-3 over the hapless Padres, and yet another amazing thing about this team, first revealed by Len Kasper on the telecast (and repeated by Cory Provus on the postgame radio show, if you're wondering where I heard this): the Cubs have now had thirteen different innings in which they've scored five or more runs.

We're simply not used to this kind of thing. They're leading the major leagues in runs scored with 223 -- by a considerable margin over the Red Sox, second with 209. The nine walks drawn last night give them 183 for the season. That's almost half of what they drew in 2006, Dusty Baker's last season, 395 -- in fewer than one-quarter the number of games. I'll make sure to make note here when they pass the '06 team -- it may be before the end of June. And if you're wondering: the club record for walks in a season is 650, set in 1975 (yeah, I was surprised to find that out too, as that team finished badly after a hot start; no one on that team walked 100 or more times, though six walked 60 or more). Right now the average of 4.8 walks per game would shatter that record; they are on pace for 780. The 5.86 runs per game average would mean 950 runs over a full season.

Ain't this fun?

The Cubs came from behind again last night; Z just couldn't keep the Padres bats totally silent, and they went into the bottom of the fifth with a 2-1 lead. Z led off with a double off the wall that looked, at first, as if it might be his 2nd HR of the year. No matter, Alfonso Soriano followed with his fourth HR of the season and after that... well, everyone hit. Or walked. The only one of the starting nine who didn't get a hit last night was Kosuke Fukudome. But he had three walks, scored twice, and got an RBI when he walked with the bases loaded. Ryan Theriot had three hits; Derrek Lee two (and a stolen base, which, like Aramis Ramirez' on Sunday, looked like it came off a missed sign). Ramirez had an RBI single, a walk, and scored twice. And after Kevin Kouzmanoff couldn't beat Aramis Ramirez to 3B, making Ramirez safe and giving Mark DeRosa a hit, Kouzmanoff threw the ball in the general direction of the corner of Addison & Sheffield, allowing three runs to score. Padres manager Bud Black then yanked Kouzmanoff from the game. Yes, I know it wasn't for that reason -- Kouzmanoff had made the last out of the previous inning and was the obvious choice for a double-switch for Black's pitching change -- but it wound up being unintentional humor.

Ain't this fun?

Lou must be having fun, because he sounded exhausted on the radio during the postgame press conference, almost as if he had spent the evening running around the bases himself.

The Cubs are having serious internal discussions on whether to sign center fielder Jim Edmonds, cut loose by the San Diego Padres.

General manager Jim Hendry could not comment Monday on Edmonds, who must first clear waivers, much as Reed Johnson had to during spring training before the Cubs signed him after Toronto let him go.

Some quarters in the Cubs' front office are taking a "why not?" approach to taking a flyer on Edmonds, all the while wanting to know about his health, whether he can still play and how good a fit he will be in the clubhouse.

I'll tell you "why not": he's done. I guess I can't fault management for doing their due diligence, but obviously, he'd be signed to replace Felix Pie on the roster. And why is this? Because Lou clearly doesn't trust Pie, doesn't want to give him a shot, and if you look at Pie's record so far in the major leagues, the answer to the question "Can Pie hit major league pitching?" is, "We don't know yet!"

Pie has played 117 major league games over a season and a quarter. The longest stretch of games he has started and finished during that time is nine (last June). This season, his longest such stretch is four games -- the first four of the season.

Now I ask you -- how can ANY hitter get any consistent rhythm going if he doesn't play? How can Pie learn how to face major league pitching and see enough pitches and different pitchers to hit if they won't give him a chance?

He needs to be out there every day at least against RHP. If the Cubs insist on signing a washed-up, injured, 38-year-old centerfielder who was released by a team in desperate need of hitting, at least send Jim Edmonds to Iowa for a week or two first, and let Pie play.

The bottom line is: the Cubs are 23-15, winners of four in a row and five of six, and scoring metric buttloads of runs. Why mess with success? Please, Jim. Don't do it.

Finally, to discuss this screaming Sun-Times headline from today:

... go to blackhawk24's FanPost.

Go get 'em, Z!

• The Florida Marlins would be in first place with the best record in the NL
• The Cincinnati Reds would be in last place with the second-worst record in the NL
• The Tampa Bay Rays would be 1.5 games behind the Red Sox, in second place in the AL East, five games over .500 for the first time in franchise history
• The Oakland A's would be in first place with the second-best record in the AL
• The Detroit Tigers would be in last place, six games under .500
• And the San Diego Padres would have the worst record in baseball and be nine games out of first place.

That last may be the most perplexing of all the above bullet points. The Padres have had four straight winning seasons, made the playoffs in 2005 and 2006 and missed last year in a tiebreaker game (and Michael Barrett is still waiting for Matt Holliday to touch the plate). What happened to this team? (And no, I didn't see any hands raised, including my own.)

Whatever it is, please don't wake them up till Friday.

Today's Starting Pitchers

C. Zambrano Cubs vs. R. Wolf Padres 5-1 W-L 2-2 1.80 ERA 4.14 38 SO 38 14 BB 15 3 HR 2 vs. SD -- vs. Cubs

Randy Wolf is only 2-5, 4.35 lifetime vs. the Cubs, but he has handled the current club's hitters pretty well. In 100 career AB among hitters currently on the Cubs roster, only Aramis Ramirez has homered off Wolf and they are a combined .190/.239/.270 in those 100 AB. Time to turn that around tonight. Wolf faced the Cubs as a Dodger last year on May 27 and threw six shutout innings in a game the Dodgers eventually won in 11. Before that he hadn't faced the Cubs since 2004.

Z, as I wrote yesterday, has been solid all year long, and is 4-1, 1.94 ERA in seven lifetime starts against the Padres -- that is his best ERA against any NL team. As good as Wolf has been vs. Cub hitters, Z is even better against the current SD roster. Hitters on San Diego's active roster are 4-for-47 (2 doubles, both by Brian Giles), with 17 strikeouts.

Here's what happens when I write that kind of stuff, and then say, "It's going to be a coolish, no-wind evening, a pitcher's night." When I say that, that's when we have a 10-9 game. As long as the Cubs win, that works for me.

Note of interest: former Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta, who is now working as a "special assistant" in the Padres front office, has just started a blog. Hat tip for the link to our SBN Padres site Gaslamp Ball. Careful if you go over there -- some of our best posters have been banned at GSB.

Today's game is on cable in Chicago and over the air (what a novel concept!) in San Diego. Also see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday (2007 version)

MLB.com Gameday (2008 version)

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Today's overflow comment thread will post at 8:30 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Section 438 in the upper deck during the rain delay

The water seen here being swept by the ground crew was completely gone by game time, a tribute to the crew and the new drainage system

Sean Gallagher lays down a perfect bunt in the second inning. Check out Miguel Montero's pink catching gear. The chest protector looks like a life vest.

Another lesson learned Sunday: don't do this!

Daryle Ward celebrates his game-winning double

Click on photos to open a larger version in a new browser window. All photos by David Sameshima

And just what did we learn today from today's 6-4 Cub win over the Diamondbacks, their second come-from-behind win in a row, completing a sweep over a team that came into Chicago with the best record in baseball?

First, mea culpa to everyone I was talking to in the game thread saying "CALL THIS GAME NOW!" I figured there was no way they'd play this afternoon, given the horrendous weather all morning -- pouring rain, strong winds, feeling like it was 2003 again; so I stayed home during the morning hours (had lunch, did the Sunday Tribune crossword, kept track of weather radars) instead of going to claim my bleacher seat. Watching the webcams (thanks, ballhawk!) we saw that the seats were claimed by about 12:30, so when I arrived Mike, Phil & I sat with, appropriately, I thought, on Mother's Day, some longtime bleacher season ticket holders who are moms, Judy & Colleen, in their seats in right-center field next to the concession stand. Judy's daughter is in her 20's and married, but Colleen had her three young kids in tow. They spent most of their time slopping hot dogs, cokes and cotton candy all over the place, calling each other "idiot", and racing in and out so many times it made my head spin. (The oldest, to her credit, at least attempted to keep score.) Mike said it was "almost as good entertaiment as what was on the field, and free!"

Well, at least before the Cubs mounted their two comebacks, it might have been the best entertainment of the day (No, I'm not including the idiot who ran onto the field, jumping out of the bleachers -- the last guy who tried that broke both his ankles -- who was tackled by security and the off-duty cops who patrol for those sorts of things). But the Cubs, who had given the lead to Arizona in the first inning after two were out and no one on base (I hate those!), took it back with some small ball in the second -- a walk, a single, a sacrifice by Sean Gallagher, and a wild pitch.

The long-ball gave them the lead in the third, in the form of Derrek Lee's opposite-field HR, his tenth.

The lead was coughed up in the fifth, with yet another lesson learned: here was a textbook example of how certain statistics mean absolutely nothing, in this case pitcher ERA's. Sean Gallagher, who I thought threw pretty well before running out of gas in the 5th, gave up hits to three of the first four batters he faced in that inning (after allowing only two hits and two walks through four), and then intentionally walked Chris Young to load the bases while Chad Fox finished his warmup tosses.

Fox shouldn't have bothered. He walked the first two hitters he faced, Conor Jackson and Justin Upton, forcing in two runs. After that Fox settled down and retired the next two hitters, and threw a scoreless sixth, even while issuing another walk.

Thus Fox's ERA goes down, and Gallagher's goes up through no fault of his own. Fox, I think, really doesn't belong on this roster. He's a feel-good story, but that's about it. And I was beginning to be of the mind that Lou didn't know what he was doing, NOT using Fox in a five-run blowout in the 9th inning yesterday, then using him in a key situation today.

Which leads to another lesson learned, and this one was taught both to me and D'backs manager Bob Melvin. After Reed Johnson tied the game with his first Cub HR (hit into the teeth of a 25-MPH wind blowing in from LF), Lou brought in Carlos Marmol yet again (I thought he could have stuck with Michael Wuertz in the 8th; Wuertz threw exactly four pitches in dispatching the D'backs in the 7th) -- I swear, Marmol's arm is going to fall off if Lou keeps this up -- Marmol took care of Arizona easily, and the Cubs came up in the last of the 8th down by two runs.

After Aramis Ramirez singled... well, something happened, and I'm not sure what. Did someone miss a sign? Or did someone not give a sign? Aramis took off for second base and surprised everyone in the ballpark, most of all Arizona catcher Miguel Montero, who nearly flung the ball into the center field ivy; Ramirez was safe for only his 12th career SB, his first since 2006 (and only his fourth since becoming a Cub nearly five years ago).

That's when the fun began. Kosuke Fukudome laid down a perfect bunt that hugged the wet grass down the 3B line (hey! a use for rainy days after all!), which put Ramirez on third with nobody out. After Geovany Soto's "swinging bunt" advanced Dome to second, Lou schooled all of us. Daryle Ward had been on deck to pinch-hit for Marmol, the seemingly "obvious" PH move, but instead, Lou sent up Alfonso Soriano (who got a huge ovation; I suppose, for yesterday's 4-for-5).

Bob Melvin ordered Soriano intentionally walked to load the bases. Then, Ward batted for Felix Pie. Melvin either forgot to have a lefthander up or doesn't trust his bullpen lefties, because Ward slammed Tony Pena's second pitch in the gap right in front of my Sunday perch, winning the game. Sometimes Lou appears to be not-so-slick because, well, some of his postgame comments may not seem as articulate or funny or pithy as some other managers. But oh, he's smart, thinking two steps ahead of the other guy. Bob Melvin and the rest of us: lesson learned.

Kerry Wood hit another batter (didn't he do this a lot as a starter, too?), but got out of the inning with a slick DP turned by Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot and Derrek Lee.

Learned my lessons today: never question Chicago weather, because there was no typhoon today; after it stopped raining it wasn't too cold, though quite windy. And never question Lou Piniella. He's the right guy for this job.

Finally, maybe a lesson learned for some of you who questioned me when I picked the Diamondbacks to finish fourth in the NL West. Yes, they're a good team with good young talent. But they sure didn't impress me this weekend. Savor this sweep; the Cubs just gave notice that they will need to be reckoned with as this season continues what is beginning as a fascinating one.

Click here for my scorecard from today's game

Or, "Rain Delay Theater".

• 2002: The game was delayed by rain over two hours and they might as well have not bothered. The Brewers beat up on Jon Lieber and three other pitchers 13-4.
• 2003: This is what we who were there not-so-affectionately call the "Typhoon Game", played in 48-degree weather with the wind blowing at about 40 MPH and a steady rain. They managed to play four innings with the Cardinals leading 11-9 when the umpiring crew -- headed by who else, Cub-hater Bruce Froemming, finally called it. Here's what I wrote about it at the time on my old blog. The Cardinals' Eli Marrero suffered a severe ankle injury which pretty much ruined the rest of his career.
• 2004: Well, at least it was warmer, 80 degrees at game time. This game had three rain delays and went 13 innings; the result was also better. The Cubs won, 7-5 over the Rockies.

Ugh. That's enough. I think whoever the new ownership of the Cubs winds up being, ought to petition the commissioner's office to never, ever, ever, EVER again schedule the Cubs at home on Mother's Day, especially because the weather's going to be crappy again today. In fact, I'd say there's a pretty good chance that today's game will be postponed. The Cubs and Diamondbacks have common off days on July 7 and July 17 -- look for a possible rescheduling on one of those dates, if there's a rainout today.

In fact, let me get on my BCB soapbox for a moment. At this writing -- 10:15 am CDT -- it is absolutely pouring rain in Chicago, 46 degrees and very windy. Yes, I realize there is a lot of money at stake for a postponed game, and yes, I also realize that the new field at Wrigley has a great drainage system. But it is supposed to rain steadily till at least 4:00 this afternoon, and after that it'll be cold and raw. Why not call the game NOW and play it on one of the open dates in July? Then there's no money lost and they can play in better conditions.

"We always do it for Father's Day," Dempster said on Friday, "but I think Mother's Day is just as important."

Dempster started the ticket program a few years ago, and usually hosts families on Father's Day. Because the Cubs will be on the road then, Dempster decided to switch to Mother's Day. The families invited include some whose moms are serving overseas.

Today's Starting Pitchers

C. Zambrano Cubs vs. R. Johnson Diamondbacks 5-1 W-L 2-1 1.80 ERA 5.06 38 SO 28 14 BB 11 3 HR 4 vs. Ari -- vs. Cubs

I'm going to write about this pitching matchup as if the game will be played, but of course I'm hoping it won't be.

Since this is probably the last game Randy Johnson will ever pitch in Wrigley Field (barring a postseason Cub/D'back rematch this year), rather than the traditional batter vs. pitcher numbers, I thought I'd talk about Johnson's first appearance in Wrigley Field, nearly 20 years ago on September 20, 1988, when he was a 25-year-old rookie for the Montreal Expos. (Yes, that's right, the Expos. Johnson was shipped to Seattle the next summer for Mark Langston, as the Expos, contenders, wanted a starting pitcher.) Anyway, Johnson, in what was only his second major league start, threw a complete game with 11 strikeouts. But that's not what was remarkable. In the 7th inning, he singled for his first major league hit. And the Cubs' 1B in that game was Manny Trillo. Trillo is generously listed as being 6-1 (he's probably closer to 5-11). Johnson is, as you know, 6-10. I wasn't at this game, but seeing the shot of Johnson on TV, standing at 1B next to Trillo, made Trillo look like a little kid, an indelible memory of Randy Johnson, soon headed to the Hall of Fame.

As for Z, he's been solid all year long, and unlike his last appearance against the D'backs last October, I'm guessing Lou would very much like Z to throw at least seven innings today. He is 1-2, 4.88 in four career regular season starts against Arizona.

Today's game, as Friday's was, on WGN and FSN Arizona. For other games see today's MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday (2007 version)

MLB.com Gameday (2008 version)

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Today's overflow comment thread will post at 2:45 pm CT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Click on photos to open a larger version in a new browser window. All photos by David Sameshima

• Ryan Dempster needs, needs, absolutely needs to throw more strikes. Even before he walked two in a row, forcing in one run and setting up a second run scoring on a bases-loaded groundout, he had run a lot of full counts early and threw an alarmingly high total of 118 pitches. The boxscore shows 70 strikes, only three hits and two walks and seven strikeouts, but this wasn't Dempster's finest hour.
• What was Alfonso Soriano still doing in the game after the six-run seventh? He was running very slowly chugging into second after his RBI double, again running slowly around third scoring on Ryan Theriot's hit, and we saw him holding the back of his right quad in the outfield when he came out for the 8th. He'd gone 3-for-4 up to that point, hitting the ball solidly, and the Cubs had a five-run lead. There's no reason he should have stayed in.
• The Cubs ran themselves out of three rallies, twice getting runners thrown out at the plate (though I too would have sent Reed Johnson on Derrek Lee's fly ball to Justin Upton in the 5th).
• What was Carlos Marmol doing in the game in the 9th with a five-run lead? He threw only 12 pitches yesterday, true, but with a five-run lead, that's the perfect opportunity to get Chad Fox some work. Or Sean Gallagher. Lou and the staff constantly talk -- correctly -- about the starters' failure to consistently get to the 7th inning, and that's why they have so many relief pitchers. Well then, use them when the situation calls for it!

OK, I'm done now, because as the title of this post says, the complaint department is closed after the Cubs mounted one of their most impressive comebacks of the season, a six-run rally off Chad Qualls (who was 0-3 despite allowing only two earned runs all year -- he had allowed six unearned runs -- before today) and Brandon Medders, who came in after Qualls had allowed hits to four of the first five batters he faced (the other one, Reed Johnson, sacrificed -- a really nicely laid down bunt which he almost beat out. The Cubs executed two nice sac bunts today, the other by Dempster). All six hits in the inning were solidly hit, capped by the two-run homer, his second of the year -- to the opposite field -- by Kosuke Fukudome, that put the game out of reach.

Scott Eyre got the win in his first appearance of the season, a well-pitched inning. Bob Howry also threw an efficient inning (12 pitches, 9 strikes), and Marmol wasn't overtaxed, throwing only 14 pitches. I still don't quite see the point of his appearance, though.

Back to Fukudome for a moment. Every single day, quietly most days, some not (as today with the HR), he is reaching base at what, for a Cub, is an unaccustomed pace. In 35 games (he sat one out), he has 43 hits and 22 walks -- 67 times reached base, averaging nearly two times on base every game, and now with triple-slash stats of .321/.416./.473.

Just very, very impressive. I still think he belongs in the leadoff slot -- but today, everything went the way it was supposed to, and this is what good teams do, come back even when down, when blowing a lead and not looking good, and so far, the supposedly "invincible" Diamondbacks have been shut down in the first two games of the series, scoring only three runs. A couple of D'backs fans sat down near us today after my friends Brian & Kristy (who had brought their 9-month-old baby girl to her first Cubs game) had to leave. They got pretty quiet during that 7th-inning Cub rally, but I gave them a BCB card. If you two are reading this, welcome.

Tomorrow's Z-Randy Johnson pitching matchup could be a good one, but the weather forecast doesn't look good:

Sunday: Showers. High near 50. Breezy, with a north northeast wind around 25 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

What do you expect? It's Mother's Day, when the weather's always rotten when the Cubs are scheduled at home. I'm off to the Police concert. Till tomorrow, and yes, I'll stop complaining. Celebrate the win!

If you cannot see this game because of the Magical Fox Wizard, remember to think these words: "No more blackouts... no more blackouts... no more blackouts..."