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

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!

Stop me if you've heard this one before: the Cubs go out to an early lead, then cough it up because the other guys got ONE key hit, and then the Cubs have numerous chances to get back in the game, but can't get that one key hit themselves, stranding runners all over creation.

You didn't stop me, but that's pretty much the summary of last night's frustrating 5-3 Cub loss to the Cardinals. This photo from cubs.com pretty much sums it up:

via chicago.cubs.mlb.com

A look of determination on Jason Marquis' face, probably just before he gave up the critical two-out, two-run double to Albert Pujols that broke the 2-2 tie in the fourth inning. For the rest of the night, it was play-catchup time. And in the seventh inning, the score now 5-2 Cardinals, the Cubs could have and should have gotten back into it -- loading the bases with nobody out and having the middle of the batting order up. Even Alfonso Soriano contributed, singling after Ronny Cedeno reached on a HBP. Ryan Theriot worked the count full and then sliced a single through the infield.

But D-Lee flied out, too shallow to score a run. Kosuke Fukudome's fly ball was deep enough to score Cedeno, but that's all the Cubs could muster against Tony LaRussa's two pitching changes -- got to give the Cardinals credit, so far rookie RHP Kyle McClellan has been lights-out. It's too early to know whether McClellan can keep this up all year, but he is one of the biggest reasons the Cardinals find themselves in first place. I'm still not convinced Todd Wellemeyer is going to be an effective starting pitcher for a full season, but last night, he did the job they needed him to do, and unlike Friday night, St. Louis' bullpen did its job.

And that's all the Cubs got, despite drawing six more walks and having runners all over the place. They really missed having Aramis Ramirez in the middle of the order last night.

Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other guys. Jason Marquis was shaky again, and perhaps the key play of the game was the walk he issued to Adam Kennedy just before Pujols' two-out double. Kennedy is not an easy player to walk -- his lifetime OBA coming into last night's game was only .329 -- and those two runs were the difference. The Cardinals came through in a critical situation and the Cubs didn't. Those things are going to happen in a long season.

Positive sign: Sean Gallagher threw the last two innings, worked fast, threw strikes (and only 19 pitches total), and kept the game close. He looked far more confident than the scared-looking 22-year-old kid who put up an 8.59 ERA in eight appearances in 2007. If he keeps that up he may wind up in the rotation, if guys like Marquis continue to struggle.

That's enough. Let's move on to Cincinnati to face a team that's really having trouble and beat up on them, starting tonight.

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 .

Drifting in and out of sleep last night (since I have to get up at 3:30 am for work on Saturdays, and thank you to BCB reader northsider for posting the extra inning comment thread), I woke up just in time to see Skip Schumaker's walkoff HR fly over the RF wall in St. Louis, finishing the Cubs' 5-3 loss to the Cardinals in 11 innings.

It's got Lou Piniella so exasperated that he doesn't know what to say. In this Bruce Miles article in the Daily Herald, Lou elaborates on his "You think I'm stupid?" remark at Thursday's postgame press conference:

After the game, Piniella took exception to a question from a radio reporter who asked if Piniella had thought about moving Reed Johnson from center to left and replacing Soriano, who had come off the disabled list Thursday after suffering a right-calf strain.

"The question that was asked yesterday, the guy who asked it knew the answer before I had to answer it," Piniella said. "Why ask it? Why can't he report the news instead of trying to create news?

"I'm not going to take Soriano out for defense. He knows it, you know it, and unless there's a double switch, that's the only way he's coming out of the ballgame. Everybody knows that. You don't take superstar players out of the lineup. You don't do it."

But then, in Bruce's game recap from last night, Piniella shows his frustration, which matches all of ours:

"I've got no explanation for the left-field play," Piniella said. "I really don't."

Soriano dropped a playable fly ball in the 7th inning -- well, "dropped" isn't the right word, because he appeared to never touch it -- that helped the Cardinals eventually extend their lead to 3-1 after Yadier Molina hit a ground-rule double. The Cubs actually caught a break on that play, because the ball bouncing into the seats held a runner at third. Otherwise it'd have been 4-1. At the same time, if Soriano makes that play (or if Derrek Lee hadn't made an error on Rick Ankiel's grounder on the previous play), the Cardinals score NO runs in that inning and then Soriano's two-run HR in the 9th inning would have been a game-winner.

Such is what happens when you're in a bad stretch, and the Cubs are in a really bad stretch (now six losses in the last eight games). I was actually encouraged by that inning, because Bob Howry did his job -- got Ankiel to hit a ground ball and Albert Pujols to hit the popup that Soriano couldn't field. When Troy Glaus struck out, that should have been a 1-2-3 inning. Kerry Wood also threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning, good news after his Thursday meltdown.

All of this wouldn't have been necessary if Rich Hill had just done his job. He walked four batters in the first inning, forcing in a run, at which time Lou had had enough and yanked him, and that may be it for Hill in the rotation for a while:

"Hill can't start like this in the big leagues," Piniella said. "Come on. Every time he pitches, it's an adventure. He's doing his best. I have no bullpen. I don't know what the solution is. I can't start him anymore until this thing gets taken care of. I would think that if we did something, we'd put (Sean) Marshall in the rotation, for now."

Give credit, at least, to Michael Wuertz and Jon Lieber, who together threw five innings and allowed only one run, keeping the game close. But Lou is right. I can't figure out what's wrong with Hill, who appears to have seriously regressed from his fine season last year. He's walked 18 in 19.2 innings and doesn't seem to have a clue out there. I don't think he's hurt, because his velocity seems OK; is it a mechanical problem? Larry Rothschild has already worked with him on that once this year, and that resulted in Hill's only win of the season. Hill has now thrown 353 pitches in five starts -- not getting past the sixth inning in any of them -- and only 55% of them have been strikes (194). Contrast that with Carlos Zambrano's excellent start this year (after a couple of years' worth of Z walking way too many) -- Z has thrown 723 pitches, 458 for strikes (63%).

Would an all-expenses-paid trip to Des Moines for Rich be useful? I say it would; what's the point of putting Hill in the bullpen? If he's a long reliever, he's likely to come into situations where the team is behind, maybe with runners on base, and if he can't throw strikes -- that's potential disaster.

The Cubs did have their opportunities last night, having nine hits and five walks... but leaving thirteen men on base in 11 innings isn't going to cut it. The Cubs left RISP in the 7th, 8th, 9th and 11th.

And Chad Fox... well, he threw strikes (14 in 23 pitches), but everyone he faced hit the ball hard (save Brendan Ryan, who bunted). I'm not so sure he's the answer to the Cubs' current bullpen woes, either. Just remember this: Lou won't stand pat if something isn't working, and even with the swap-out of Kevin Hart for Fox, there are still problems with both the rotation and the bullpen.

Perspective: after 29 games a year ago, the Cubs were 15-14, but already five games out of first place. This morning they trail by 1.5 games and are two games better off than the 2007 edition.

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.

On a night when many players and some entire teams -- nine of them -- honored the legacy of Jackie Robinson by wearing his retired number 42, Derrek Lee, who you see above (along with the Reds' Ken Griffey, Jr., also wearing 42), smashed a three-run homer in the fifth inning, bringing the Cubs from behind (they trailed 3-2 at the time), had two other hits, and sparked a 9-5 Cub win over the Reds, their eighth win in their last eleven games after starting the season 0-2.

That one felt good, although the wind howling out at 20+ MPH didn't feel so good once the sun went down. None of the three Cub homers -- by D-Lee, Mark DeRosa and Ryan Theriot -- needed any help from the wind, though. It wasn't just home runs, either -- in addition to the three HR, the Cubs pounded out 11 other hits, drew three walks and in general, had a fine offensive day. I hesitate to say so, but D-Lee's starting to look as he did in his great 2005 season -- and is now tied for the league lead in HR (5), three off the lead with 12 RBI, 2nd in SLG (.737) and 3rd in OPS (1.159).

Also "offensive", in a different sort of way, was an injury to Alfonso Soriano after one of his "bunny hops" on catching a routine fly ball. His former manager at Washington, Frank Robinson, predicted this would happen:

Soriano, an infielder until the Washington Nationals converted him to the outfield in 2006, has done the hop since making the switch, and his manager then, Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson, cringed when he watched it -- but was reluctant to try to break him of it.

"I kept saying one of these days he's going to go up there and it ain't going to be there," Robinson said last fall.

Soriano had a MRI last night on the leg and may be headed to the DL. (Which, I suppose, will please those of you who are Soriano bashers. However, please remember the Cubs would likely would not have made the playoffs without his performance last September.) I presume Matt Murton would be recalled from Iowa, though it could also be Eric Patterson (since Patterson can play more positions than Murton can, and hits lefthanded). The Cubs may mix-and-match lineups while Soriano is out, but even what they did last night -- move Mark DeRosa to LF and play Mike Fontenot at 2B -- might work on occasion. They could also play Patterson in LF, or Patterson in CF (if it's really decided that Felix Pie has to go back to Iowa, and he looked pretty bad last night, even as the rest of the team was smacking the ball around the yard) with Murton in LF. I suppose also, that the calls to sign free agent Kenny Lofton may begin again.

There are worse ideas. We'll see. I also hope that if Soriano is out, Lou will entertain the idea of leading off with Kosuke Fukudome, who seems ideally suited for that spot, with his excellent plate discipline. Anyway, once Soriano does return (presuming he does have a DL stint ahead), let's hope someone convinces him to stop hopping.

Ryan Dempster threw a pretty good game, though a defensive lapse by Carlos Marmol cost him a "quality start" -- Marmol inexplicably threw to 2B in an ill-advised attempt to get Corey Patterson (who was booed every time he came up, as was Dusty Baker when he made two pitching changes. That's all I have to say about that). Hey Carlos: when the other team gives you an out, take it! Instead, the bases wound up loaded, and when a run scored on a force play, that left Dempster, who left with nobody out in the seventh, with four earned runs. Marmol, however, recovered to get an inning-ending DP, and then threw a strong eighth, striking out the side and hitting 97 on the ballpark speed meter. Would you have guessed that after 13 games, three pitchers would be tied for the team lead with two wins -- and the three would be Dempster, Jon Lieber and Kevin Hart?

Ken Griffey, Jr. hit his 595th career HR and then (photo above) shared some laughs with bleacher fans in RF who were heckling him. The Reds' Joey Votto finished the five-total-HR barrage last night by homering off Michael Wuertz (hey, what's up with that? Suddenly, Wuertz seems eminently hittable), and when Wuertz followed that with a walk to Paul Bako, Kerry Wood was summoned to finish up, even though it wasn't a save situation. Kerry threw 15 pitches (12 strikes), so ought to be available tonight (even though he was up two separate times to warm up; he'd have come in to start the 9th had Theriot not homered to make a 7-4 lead a 9-4 lead).

We were joined last night by BCB readers Sarah Hope (who recently moved to the Chicago area from Cincinnati to take a job with the Schaumburg Flyers) and some co-workers, and also BartlettBob (who says he rarely posts, if you haven't seen his name much). They gave out knit caps last night -- they were needed. It's supposed to be warmer, but just as windy, tonight, so expect more balls to leave the yard.

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

I know that quite a few BCB readers were at last night's 5-3 Cub loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia, and hopefully later today someone will make a FanPost with a few more details than I can write about from my television-viewing perspective.

The Cubs' five-game winning streak was snapped, but that's no reason to panic (I didn't have a chance to see the game threads last night, but I imagine there was quite a bit of teeth-gnashing going on). We are ten games into a 162-game season; Baseball Prospectus has the Cubs ranked third in their current "power ranking" ($), although I think that might be a little bit too high (and strange, because they have the Reds, Cubs and Brewers ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th behind the Diamondbacks).

Last night's game, in my view, turned on the strange play in the fifth inning. With two out, a runner on first and the game tied 2-2, Greg Dobbs hit a ball that Kosuke Fukudome (playing CF for the first time) ran down and caught. But then:

"I did catch the ball," Fukudome said through an interpreter. "As I ran past Soriano, the tip of my glove hit his leg or torso. Once it popped out, there was nothing I could do."

Not only can Dome play baseball (although he failed to reach base for the first time), he can succinctly summarize what happened. Lou Piniella came out to argue that Dome held on to the ball long enough for it to be an out, and having seen the replay several times, I agree. However, the umpires didn't, and the Phillies took a 3-2 lead. Who knows what might have happened if that was ruled an out and the game stayed tied?

It didn't, and even though Soriano homered in the 6th to tie the game at 3, Z didn't have it last night, and that was evident in the first inning, after he was staked to a 2-0 lead on homers by Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. He struggled into the 4th with that lead, then coughed it up, and wound up giving up all five Phillie runs and threw 107 pitches in six innings, recalling the bad Z from the first half of last year (only one walk, though).

Sean Marshall and Michael Wuertz kept it close, but the Cubs couldn't score off the Phillies bullpen. And frankly, this offense is in trouble if all it's going to score is on solo home runs. However, I liked the lineup selection last night (Fukudome 2nd), and Dome says it's fine with him. (That notes column also says Tim Lahey cleared waivers and has been returned to the Twins, so if the Cubs want him back, they'll have to make another trade.)

Today, however, is another day, one of the best things about baseball -- if you lose, you don't have to wait too long to make up for it. Rich Hill, however, will have to wait a while to make up for his bad start the other day -- the Cubs will use Monday's off day to skip his turn and he'll be in the bullpen till at least late next week.

Finally, Josh77 posted this link in his Minor League Wrap, but I thought it was good enough to mention on the front page -- former Cub (and Phillie) Doug Glanville, a thoughtful sort who has an Ivy League degree (from the University of Pennsylvania) wrote this excellent NY Times op-ed piece on the Roger Clemens situation, and his ideas on why he thinks Clemens acted the way he did, saying that ballplayers put a "protective shell" around them:

To those outside Clemens’s protective shell, he seems to be fighting ghosts. We must understand that he stopped listening to the outside world a long time ago, partly because ignoring those voices was integral to his survival. So if he seems out of touch, it’s probably because he is out of touch. To "clear his name," he has cast shadows over his immediate family and his closest confidantes with implications of their complicity in tainting his golden-egg status. All for a principle of honor that I am sure he firmly believes in because, like most players, he has been reinforcing it in his own head throughout his career out of self-preservation.

I think Glanville has hit the nail on the proverbial head here. Clearly, this isn't the way most ordinary human beings, you & me, relate to each other. But Roger Clemens has been out of touch with "ordinary" for so long, he doesn't know how to act when faced with reality.