Yes, there are fifteen of them (I made sure to count).

Cubs pitchers brought their strikeout shoes to the ballpark Wednesday night; Ted Lilly, Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood combined for a season-high 15 strikeouts and the Cubs beat the Padres 8-5 in one of those "wasn't as close as the score indicated" games, made closer because Wood wasn't sharp in the ninth inning, allowing three hits and a run to score after two were out.

The big news from yesterday, is, of course, something we have discussed to death here: the Cubs' signing of Jim Edmonds and optioning of Felix Pie to Iowa. There isn't much more to be said: it's done. He's here, will start today, and if he does well and helps the Cubs win, I'm all for it. Now, let me say that on the face of it, I'm against this signing because it makes little sense from virtually every standpoint (baseball: he seems to have little left; clubhouse chemistry: he's acquired a reputation as an aloof loner; and fan support: virtually every Cubs fan hates him). All I can say is that if he indeed is as done as I think he is, that Jim Hendry won't waste any time releasing him and bringing Pie back.

The rest of this recap is happier: the Cubs' offense clicked last night. Everyone except Derrek Lee (and maybe he needs a day off -- he looked tired and went 0-for-5) got a hit and scored a run. Biggest contributors: Geovany Soto with an RBI single and two-run HR, and Alfonso Soriano, a leadoff HR and two-run single.

BCB reader drewishdrewid and his wife Laura joined us last night; nice to see you again, and also Jessica, now known here as Doggie Stalker, in from New York for the weekend. She ate her traditional good-luck tuna sandwich in the bottom of the first inning, and spent much of the rest of the game "visiting" her "other" seats in the terrace reserve, section 209, and staring at the ground. I expect her to do a lot of that this afternoon, when Greg Maddux takes the mound for the Padres.

We can afford to do silly stuff like that now, right? The Cubs are 16-7 at home, are playing well, and despite the fact that we all love Greg Maddux, I want nothing more today than to beat his team (he doesn't have to take the loss, after all). I'll have a game thread up in about three hours. Until then, here are some photos from last night's win.

Kosuke Fukudome doubles in the second inning

Reed Johnson about to catch Khalil Greene's long drive in the 5th

Ryan Theriot rounds third and scores after Aramis Ramirez doubles in the 6th

Padres CF Jody Gerut dives but cannot catch Johnson's double in the 7th

Fukudome & Johnson celebrating the win

Fukudome & Soriano celebrating the win

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

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):

Click on cartoon to open a larger version in a new browser window

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.

While the Cubs are clicking on all cylinders -- five out of their last six, 15-6 overall at home -- I wanted to comment here about the latest Jim Edmonds rumor. Bruce Miles reports:

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.

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

Top: Ryan Dempster stretches his left leg in front of the newly-grown-in ivy; Dempster stretches his right leg

Above sequence: Alfonso Soriano rounding third in the third inning Saturday (D'backs pitcher Max Scherzer yells at Augie Ojeda: "Home!" while Aramis Ramirez watches); Soriano sliding into the plate (note ball on ground and umpire not in position to see it); He's safe!

Above sequence: Kosuke Fukudome's HR lands in the LF bleachers; Fukudome crossing the plate; Fukudome tipping his cap to the RF bleachers

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

I suppose I shouldn't have any complaints after today's come-from-behind Cubs win, 7-2 over the Diamondbacks, but indeed, there are some things that need to be said before I recap all the good stuff:

• 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!

Shake this one off.

What else can you do after a loss like this one, 9-0 to the Reds, a game that was over after the second inning?

The Reds slammed seven home runs off the Cubs, including four in that second inning. The last time the Cubs gave up four home runs in an inning was nearly eight years ago, on August 8, 2000 in Los Angeles, which also happens to be the last time a pitcher -- Darren Dreifort, if you must know -- hit two home runs in a game. The four homers in the fourth inning that night were off Phil Norton, who -- and if I'm a regular ol' writer I'm supposed to say "ironically", but it really isn't -- eventually wound up pitching a couple of years of mediocre middle relief for... the Reds.

There's nothing to say about this game. The Cubs never really had any chance of getting back into it, despite drawing seven walks and leaving twelve (!) men on base; their six hits were all harmless singles, and despite having RISP in the third, fourth, fifth and ninth innings, the Cubs never got a man past second base.

I'm not worried about Jon Lieber. Sometimes you just get hit, and he did today. I'm not really worried about Sean Marshall, Sean Gallagher or Michael Wuertz, either, and all but Wuertz were touched for at least one home run. Joey Votto hit three of them, one each off Lieber, Marshall and Gallagher, and now has four HR in six games against the Cubs this season, and five of his eleven career HR against the Cubs.

Maybe it's a good thing the Cubs don't see the Reds again till July.

I hesitate to write this, because of the way such things are often viewed, but my copy of Sports Illustrated with Kosuke Fukudome on the cover arrived in the mail last Wednesday. You know, this one:

via i.timeinc.net

The Cubs won 19-5 that day, but since then -- starting Thursday, the day the magazine went on general sale on the newsstands, the Cubs are 2-5, and Dome is hitting .296 in those seven games with only one walk, after hitting .327 with 19 walks in the 26 previous games.

So it can't hurt to say this: Hey, SI. Could you keep the Cubs off the cover? Say, like, forever? Or until after they win the World Series?

It won't be a fun plane ride home for Lou, the coaching staff and the ballplayers this afternoon, but you can bet Lou and Jim will be discussing potential roster and/or lineup moves for the important 10-game homestand (the longest of the season) starting Friday against the Diamondbacks. At 19-15 the Cubs are three games better than they were after 34 games in 2007. But there is still much work to do.

Everybody take a deep breath, blow the stench of this game out of you, and enjoy the day off tomorrow.

I'm lazy today. So here, you can make up your own recap of the Cubs' 9-3 win over the Cardinals:

This afternoon in St. Louis, the Chicago Cubs nine scrappy players Mike Fontenot, who hit a 3-run HR Ted Lilly, who saved the bullpen Tim McCarver and Joe Buck took the field and ended their two-game losing streak evened up the series vs. the Cardinals moved to within 0.5 games of first place played a superb game of baseball all of the above against the St. Louis Cardinals the St. Louis Rams the St. Louis Hawks (yes, there were. Look it up.) does it really matter? Oh, yes. It matters. . Ted Lilly started and lowered his ERA to 5.97 from 6.46 returned to his 2007 form asked to pitch again sometime does it really matter? Oh, yes. It matters. . Carlos Marmol finished up the last two innings because it's a rule that he pitches on Saturdays he was afraid someone might ask him to do a Harry Caray impression like Ryan Dempster did Sean Gallagher's flight from Iowa got diverted to Topeka he wanted Buck & McCarver to talk about him and a) Kerry Wood b) Paul Assenmacher c) Ruben Quevedo d) Bob Howry e) a) and d) weren't available today. Li'l Mikey Fontenot's three-run HR was his second HR of the year was hit farther than anyone 5-7 has the right to hit some Cardinals fans right on the head How DOES a guy that small hit a ball that far? and came right after Geovany Soto hit a ground-rule double was pissed that he hit a ground-rule double said something nasty to Yadier Molina in Spanish kept up his hot hitting . Kosuke Fukudome also had a good day, having three hits including a leg double carrying on a conversation in Japanese with some fans raising his batting average to .348 showing us again why Lou should hit him 1st or 2nd . There were 10,000 25,000 46,792 the entire Cub nation's worth of Cub fans in attendance in the new-record crowd in St. Louis. Cub fans like going to games in St. Louis because it's a great rivalry many Cub fans live within an easy drive of St. Louis when it's just Cardinal fans there you can't tell the seats from the fans because they own nothing but red clothes we are EVERYWHERE. We are Cub Nation! . Tomorrow night, with the game on ESPN, the Cubs will have Jason Marquis Alfonso Soriano Joe Morgan Sandy Koufax someone else from a list submitted by BCB readers on the mound against the Cardinals. Manager Lou Piniella's comments after this big win included: "We're just taking it one day at a time", and then he threw his hat "I told you reporters I wasn't stupid!", and then he threw third base "We're happy the Cardinals lost", and then he threw his entire uniform at Joe Buck "We're going to get that Stevie Eyre back in the bullpen soon." . The Fox-TV telecast was, as usual, mediocre because Joe Buck was there Tim McCarver was there Ken Rosenthal was there all of the above wouldn't stop talking about jinxes, goats, black cats and other nonsense . Finally, the biggest news from this afternoon's game is that the Cubs moved to within 1/2 game of the first-place Cardinals winning tomorrow will win the series from a tough divisional rival Ryan Theriot made a "scrappy" play (it's fun typing "scrappy"!) You've got to be kidding about the choice above. That's not big news! Al's going to try much harder to write a more interesting recap tomorrow .

Prince Fielder, Yovani Gallardo and Reed Johnson have a close personal encounter after Johnson's ground out

Yovani Gallardo grimacing in pain after the collision; 1B coach Matt Sinatro looks him over

Reed Johnson and Kosuke Fukudome in yet another close personal encounter chasing Prince Fielder's fly ball in the 6th inning

Johnson drops the ball!

Derrek Lee slides into 2nd after a throw beats Ryan Theriot to 3rd (top of photo)

Prince Fielder chasing the errant throw after Lee's slide

Kosuke Fukudome slides into the plate in the 6th inning. This photo clearly shows him sliding in safely before Jason Kendall tagged him.

Fukudome is called out, As you can see, plate umpire Brian O'Nora was out of position to make this call.

Lou Piniella makes his point after the bad call on Fukudome by O'Nora

Ask and you shall receive -- David did get the Soto/Fielder collision, though with someone's waving cap in the way:

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

Well, did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
And is it over now
Do you know how to pick up the pieces and go home?

-- Fleetwood Mac, "Gold Dust Woman"

David Kaplan of WGN radio put it best, I think, in his postgame comments, as I heard them while driving home from the toughest Cub loss of this young season, 4-3 to the Brewers this afternoon, a game that seemed "hard fought and won", as that old saw goes.

Kaplan said that instead of slotting Felix Pie in the game for Reed Johnson, Lou Piniella should have put Pie in CF and moved Johnson to LF, replacing Alfonso Soriano... because Johnson probably would have caught Gabe Kapler's long drive to left that Soriano misread and misplayed.

And he's right. I know Soriano is maddening at times and today was one of his worst days as a Cub, making that bad play and going 0-for-4 at the plate, grounding out three times and popping up in the 7th after Mike Fontenot had singled.

It was shades of Opening Day. Kerry Wood, who's been quite good in the closing role this year, hit Craig Counsell with the first pitch he threw today, just as he hit Rickie Weeks with his first pitch of the 2008 season on March 31... and the result was the same, a disastrous three-run inning highlighted by Kapler's double that should have been an out. After Jason Kendall singled in the second run, the Cubs still had the lead at 3-2, but then Ryan Braun (who Dave calls the best right-handed hitter in the NL after Albert Pujols, and he's likely correct) smacked a double that the wind took away from a frantically reaching Fukudome, scoring the tying and lead runs. Wood got Prince Fielder to ground out to end the inning with the Cubs only down by one.

Now what would you have done after Ronny Cedeno walked? Would you have had Geovany Soto bunt? Dave said he would. I wouldn't have, but Eric Gagne threw offspeed stuff to Soto (unlike the fastballs Soto hammered last night) and got Soto on a called third strike on a pitch that you can't, simply cannot, look at. Pie then hit into a double play to end it. Should Cedeno have been running? Had he been running on Soto's at-bat, he'd at least have stayed out of the DP. And we all know how bad Jason Kendall is at throwing out runners (though, he has been better so far this year, throwing out nine of 22 runners trying to steal).

All of this on a day we should have been celebrating. Carlos Zambrano launched a ball into the left-field bleachers (opposite field, hitting left-handed, no less) for his 13th career HR, tying Fergie Jenkins for the most career HR by a Cubs pitcher -- and Fergie had 893 AB as a Cub, Z has accomplished this in fewer than half as many AB, 430 after today. Z also threw a good, if a little pitch-heavy (111), six and a third innings, lowering his ERA to 2.11 by allowing only one run -- a HR to Braun that tied the game in the sixth. An error on a miscommunication between Johnson and Fukudome on the next batter, Fielder, threatened to untie the game, but Z got Corey Hart to strike out and then Fukudome nailed Fielder at the plate on a perfect throw (I think we could feel the ground move underneath us as the 260-pound Fielder crashed into the 230-pound Soto at the plate, Soto hanging on to the ball for the out).

Tougher losses you will not find. It's especially bad when:

a) the game seemed well in hand, and

b) the opponent is one of your biggest divisional rivals.

The loss drops the Cubs 1/2 game behind the idle Cardinals into second place, and the Cubs are only a game ahead of the third-place Brewers, who won four of the first six meetings between the teams -- but remember this. Two of the games, today and Opening Day, were tough games that could have gone either way. These two teams won't meet again until the last week of July, nearly three months from now, and by then the divisional race should be taking shape much more clearly than it is today. I don't expect the Cardinals, off to a good start, to be able to maintain their pace -- but Milwaukee is a good club (even if their defense and bullpen are a little shaky) and will stay there.

There were a lot of Brewer fans in Wrigley Field for this entire series, unusual for a time when schools are still in session and the weather can be iffy (though it was pleasant today, no rain and a game-time temperature of 70); I'd say perhaps 5,000 to 7,000 fans chanted "Let's Go Brewers!" through that 9th inning rally. Unlike past days there didn't seem to be any Brewer/Cub fan incidents, and those really are unfortunate. I think part of it stems from the fact that over the last few years, Cub fans have taken over Miller Park during Cub/Brewer series and Milwaukee fans have developed a bit of a chip on their shoulders as a result.

Maybe I'm off base, but that's how I see it. It doesn't have to be this way. These were hard-fought games and there's a nascent rivalry that might, in time, be close to the Cub/Cardinal rivalry for proximity and team competition. To any Brewer fans out there -- I respect your team and how it's been built. Let's have a GOOD rivalry, not the Yankee/Red Sox kind where the fans genuinely despise each other.

And for those of you who suffered here at BCB (a couple of BCB readers, Bartlett Bob and zambranofan, joined us in the bleachers today)... I guess all I can say is, it's early, apart from today the team has played consistently well. As Z said himself in his postgame comments, they just have to pick up and play tomorrow in St. Louis and get back to winning.

Speaking of the next Cub/Brewer series, it is during that series that Wrigley Field will host their Midwest League affiliate Peoria Chiefs taking on the Kane County Cougars, at 7:05 pm on Tuesday, July 29, and for people who can't get Cub tickets because they are either unavailable or unaffordable, this is a chance to see the Cubs' future at a reasonable price:

Tickets will be available tomorrow at 9 a.m. on www.cubs.com and will range from $10 for Terrace Reserved seats, Upper Deck Reserved seats and the general admission bleachers; $12 for terrace box seats; and $15 for club and field box seats, bleacher box seats and upper deck box seats. A total of 280 designated premium seats, priced from $25-$30, will also be available as part of tomorrow's on-sale event.

Also note that:

If the Cubs sell more than 10,000 tickets for the game, it will count as one of the team's night games.

There's no preference given to Cub season ticket holders for this event, so I intend to be online tomorrow at 9 am (CDT) along with the rest of you, because I want to be part of this event, too. Besides seeing Cub prospects, it will mark the return of Ryne Sandberg to Wrigley Field in a baseball uniform for the first time since 1997, as the Chiefs' manager:

"It's an opportunity for everybody involved," Sandberg said Thursday at Wrigley. "It's a chance of a lifetime for some of these players to come here and play a game at Wrigley Field. I'm excited about it, and I know the fans will have some fun with the game."

Fleetwood Mac sang the lyrics at the top of this post. The Cubs will have to pick up the pieces and instead of going home, go on the road and win, starting tomorrow. I have faith in this team that they can do it. Till then.

What can I say?

What can any of us say after the Cubs completed the most dominant homestand in recent memory -- 7 wins in 8 games, scoring 67 runs (average: more than eight per game) -- and thoroughly dominating both bad teams and good. The Mets are ... well, supposedly they're a good team, but the holes in their rotation, their bullpen and their offense after Jose Reyes and David Wright were glaringly obvious last night and this afternoon. This is why a lot of us who study and follow baseball closely have dismissed the opinions of the so-called experts; this year, after the Mets acquired Johan Santana, the national media (and some of the Chicago columnists, too) anointed the Mets NL champions, implying Santana would win every game he started.

Baseball doesn't work that way, and from what I saw the last two days, the Mets have one dominant starter (who we didn't see), a good closer (who we didn't see either), and a ton of holes in the rest of their pitching staff. Reyes and Wright were non-factors in this miniseries; Carlos Beltran didn't do much, either, and I think Carlos Delgado is in decline.

All of this is just background; the Cubs blew out the Mets again today, 8-1, and once again Ronny Cedeno -- yes, RONNY CEDENO, the guy we made fun of for more than two years, who made enough boneheaded plays to make the Blooper Hall of Fame, suddenly seems to have come of baseball age.

Today, he drove in the first run of the game with a double, hustling to second base as Mets RF Angel Pagan knocked the ball around in the corner, and Kosuke Fukudome streaked home. Then, ONEDEC (Cedeno spelled backwards because he's "turned it around") hit a grand slam in the 8th inning, landing on the street just behind us where a very happy guy wearing an orange T-shirt caught it, just inside the foul pole.

A grand slam -- his first. A double. Five RBI. Playing SS with confidence. This is the guy I've seen in consecutive spring trainings playing this way. Has he finally "gotten it"? It's probably too early to make that judgment off a couple of games. However, I'd say Ronny has earned more playing time; maybe, as the Cubs shouldn't rush Alfonso Soriano back from the DL, they don't have to rush Ryan Theriot back from his back spasms. This is a good problem to have -- too many players getting hot at the same time. You could play Theriot at 2B, Cedeno at SS, and Mark DeRosa in LF, with Reed Johnson in CF -- all of those are hitting well. But then what of Felix Pie? Felix had two more hits today and reminded us of his defensive value with a couple of nice running catches.

Kosuke Fukudome deserves his own paragraph today -- he had three hits and reached base all five times up. He had two walks -- the team drew eight more walks today, which means we're going to have to get used to longer games, with more pitches taken. Win 'em and I'll sit there all night watching the bases get clogged with Cubs.

Not only is the baseball all being played well on the North Side of Chicago, the weather -- which we all feared after seeing 16 games on the schedule in the month of April -- has cooperated. Apart from rain on Opening Day and a little drizzle last Saturday, it's been sunny most days, including today, when it was supposed to rain, and the temperature soared into the mid-70's, with a nice breeze. It's really only been brutally cold a couple of days.

This raised the question in my mind, so I asked Dave: "What comes first? Team chemistry and a team you 'like', or does winning breed that?" He didn't really have an answer and neither do I. It's the old "chicken and the egg" question. We like this team because it's winning, and we're learning to like new players like Johnson, and new-to-good-play guys like Cedeno. I think this breeds good team chemistry -- it's got to be more fun to come to work every day for these guys when they are winning. Dave did say that the way this team is playing reminds him a little of the 2005 White Sox -- getting every break, a little luck, timely hitting and good pitching. It's a little too soon, I think, to make such comparisons. As for me, I'm enjoying the ride, and I'm sure you are too.

Ted Lilly threw very well today -- he had one shaky inning in which the Mets scored their only run, and another in which he walked the bases loaded and got out of it with a couple of popups. The 107-pitch outing (64 strikes) got his ERA "down" to 7.30, and that first win is always nice to have. Now, he needs to build on this for his next start.

I sat with BCB reader Damen Jackson today; always nice to see Damen and talk baseball. He took quite a few photos which he'll either post himself or email to me. One of them will be of the Mets broadcast booth, which had a large sign reading "ALOU" on it before the game, later moved inside. This puzzled us, as Moises Alou isn't even traveling with the team while he's on the DL. If any Mets (or Alou) fan knows why that was there, enlighten us, please. BCB reader southsidecubsfan also stopped by to say hello this afternoon.

So the Cubs go on the road the hottest team in the NL -- since the 0-2 start, that's 14 wins in 18 games, and 7 of 8, one of the best April starts in recent team history. Yes, there is a long way to go -- and I was reminded of that in checking the future schedule; this two-game series is the only time we'll see the Mets at Wrigley this year (barring a postseason meeting), and it will be exactly five months from today -- September 22 -- when the two clubs will meet again, in the penultimate series at Shea Stadium.

Finally, a couple of notes: thanks to BCB reader northsider who posted the overflow game thread, since I forgot to do so this morning... and I also heard today that there may be concerts at Wrigley again this summer, sometime after the All-Star break. No, I don't know who yet. Now, take it easy, savor this wonderful just-completed homestand, and relax till tomorrow night's game in Denver.

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