Grrrrrrr....

OK, now that's about the Cubs' loss last night.

You know how ballgames can sometimes turn on one play? That was the case last night. For some reason, Doug Glanville decided that he had to have too long of a lead against Wilson Alvarez, and after a couple of throws, he got picked off. Then Ramon Martinez singled.

Had Glanville stayed put, the Cubs would have had runners on first and third with nobody out and the heart of the batting order up, and it's possible they would have had the inning the Dodgers had in the bottom of the first, and Alvarez would have been out of there.

Then there was the misplay by Moises Alou in that bottom of the first that allowed Dave Roberts to have the generously-hometown-scored inside-the-park HR (it really should have been a single and a three-base error). That opened the gates, and when Robin Ventura smacked his own two-run homer, that was the ballgame, a one-sided 6-1 loss to the Dodgers. How boring was it after the first inning? Tired old me fell asleep in the sixth, woke up briefly to see the score, and figured that was it. I was right.

Jeff & Krista were at the last two games, so I guess I can blame them!

Now, the Cubs will have to rely on the strong right arm of Mark Prior to salvage one game against L.A. True, the Dodgers are hot right now -- having won six in a row -- but the Cubs were on a bit of a streak of their own before they hit Dodger Stadium.

Still, I have hope. Consider that two regulars -- Damian Miller and Alex Gonzalez -- are both hitting more than 20 points under their lifetime averages -- and the club is still 9-5 since they began this little run starting with the Houston series the last weekend of July. A win today and a Houston loss puts the Cubs in good position with the Astros coming to town tomorrow. Ex-Cub Scott Downs, who hasn't pitched in the majors since 2000, will pitch for the Expos today.

Also of note, our favorite lazy ex-Cub, Fred McGriff, will be activated from the DL in time for the Dodgers' series at Wrigley Field next weekend, after he has a three-game vacation, er, rehab assignment, in Vero Beach, near his family's home in Tampa.