If you are a Cubs fan of "a certain age", you will recognize the headline of this post as something Jack Brickhouse would say every time the Cubs got out of a tough situation.

That was the case last night as I sat screaming at my TV after Kerry Wood gave up the two-run homer to Ryan Ludwick in the 9th inning: "He should have let Lilly finish it!"

Ted Lilly survived a shaky first inning and after that was outstanding, throwing only 90 total pitches and allowing just five hits, the single run in the first and walked no one and the Cubs survived Wood's rust and beat the Cardinals 4-3, holding on to their 4.5 game lead over the Brewers and reducing the magic number to clinch the division title to 13, and to clinch a playoff spot to 9.

It was the third straight game decided by a 4-3 score. The Cubs scored just enough runs in the second inning, helped out by two Cardinals errors -- and they should have scored more; they had three runs in with nobody out when Lilly raced home on a contact play and crashed into Yadier Molina, who held on to the ball and tagged him out. It was a very aggressive play for a pitcher, but Lilly has that bulldog attitude in him. Another run scored later in the inning and the Cubs had the bases loaded with two out, but Kosuke Fukudome was called out on strikes.

In the third, Alfonso Soriano threw out Cesar Izturis at the plate on one of his patented throws where he slings the ball sidearm and at first you can't believe he has anything on the throw, yet it gets there in time. It was a little to the first base side of the plate and so Geovany Soto didn't have time to get his leg in to block the plate; it was a very close play and replays showed that Izturis... well, he might have been safe.

Nevertheless, no one argued, and we'll take it. Lilly settled down and had several low pitch-count innings, and really, could have and should have been allowed to finish. Yes, I know Wood needed the work -- he's pitched only twice in eight days -- and it appears he still needs the work, since he gave up ringing extra-base hits to Ludwick and Albert Pujols, who doubled before Ludwick's homer.

Other good things: Soriano drove in his 70th run of the year. That equals his total from 2007 -- in 39 fewer games, and there are still 17 games remaining on the schedule. Felix Pie had a nice game in his first start since returning from Iowa -- walking twice (where did he learn to do that?), singling, scoring a run and driving one in. It's extremely small sample size, obviously, one game, and no judgments on his future can be made from this game. But it's a positive to build on.

One thing for the future that has to be decided immediately: where are the Cubs and Astros going to play their weekend series?

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said he had spoken Wednesday to Katy Feeney, Major League Baseball's senior vice president of scheduling, and she had no concrete plans for rescheduling games.

There has been no known talk about shifting the Saturday or Sunday games, though there is speculation Saturday's game would be postponed if the hurricane hits Houston, possibly forcing a doubleheader Sunday or single games Sunday and Monday, which is an off day for both teams.

Another possibility is playing the final two games in St. Louis because the Cardinals will be in Pittsburgh.

Well, if they're going to play in St. Louis, why not play the entire series there, rather than make the Cubs fly to Houston, then fly back to St. Louis a day later? Phil Rogers, in one of his rare pieces that make sense, lays out the scenario:

The Astros seem to be preparing for a scenario in which the teams play Friday, hunker down while the hurricane blows through Saturday and then choose between a day-night doubleheader Sunday or single games Sunday and Monday (when both teams have scheduled days off). If the storm is too bad for them to play Sunday, theoretically the Cubs could stay over until Monday for a split doubleheader.

"I don't think we can get out [of Houston] if we get in," Piniella said Wednesday. "We stay in [through the storm] if we get in."

Huh? Isn't this just a little absurd?

While the lateness of the season dictates this series has to be played, there's no way it should remain in Houston, no matter how loudly McLane argues that his team deserves home-field advantage as it tries to stay alive in the wild-card race.

There are 15 major-league parks that will sit empty this weekend, including Wrigley Field.

The series should be moved to a neutral site—say, Busch Stadium in St. Louis or Turner Field in Atlanta—if McLane and Selig aren't agreeable to the Cubs getting three extra home games in the middle of the playoff race.

This probably could go without saying, but money is a factor. The Astros expect three sellouts, bringing in revenue to help underwrite their $90 million payroll, and will be forced to refund money if the games aren't played.

This is where MLB needs to step in, dipping into the central fund to help subsidize McLane's losses. Ticket sales from a relocated series could be donated to hurricane relief, with the Cubs and Astros providing matching funds.

Here's the predicted track of the hurricane as of 7 am CDT today:

MLB wants the Cubs to ride that out sitting in Houston? I say, no way. Move the series to a neutral site -- St. Louis makes the most logical sense. Hope they make a decision soon.

In any event, there is business to be taken care of first: win this series, and root for the Phillies tonight.

Lou Piniella got outmanaged last night, and I'm not real happy about that.

Answer this question: why would you, in the eighth inning of a tie game, have one of your best RBI men bunt? Maybe this question should be asked first, and don't look it up before you answer: how many sacrifice bunts did Geovany Soto have in his major league career before last night?

The answer is zero, and it's still zero after he bunted too hard and Ryan Franklin turned it into an easy double play, after Jim Edmonds had walked to lead off the inning and Felix Pie was sent in to pinch-run for him. Soto slammed the bat down in the dugout afterward (at least he didn't break any bones!); was that out of frustration at not being able to do the job, or disbelief that he was even asked? They couldn't believe it either in the Yahoo recap:

Top 8th: Chi Cubs
- J. Edmonds walked
- F. Pie ran for J. Edmonds
- G. Soto unknown into double play pitcher to shortstop to first, F. Pie out at second
- M. Fontenot grounded out to first

0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors
Chi Cubs 3, St. Louis 3

"Unknown into double play". Yeah, that about sums up the Cubs' 4-3 loss to the Cardinals. It wasn't just Soto's DP -- Alfonso Soriano also hit into one in the 9th -- but it was also failure to capitalize on other opportunities; the Cubs could have put the game away in the first inning with some timely hitting, and again in the sixth when they had the bases loaded and one out.

Ryan Dempster threw well enough -- it's no shame to give up a HR to Albert Pujols, many have done this -- and it wouldn't have mattered if the Cubs had scored the six or seven runs they should have scored last night.

The other criticism I have of Lou last night is: why didn't he walk Cesar Izturis? In a situation like that, you almost have to load the bases to set up force plays at every base. Yes, I am well aware that Skip Schumaker, who was on deck, is a far better hitter than Izturis. But if you induce Schumaker to hit the same grounder that Izturis hit -- only have the bases loaded instead of runners on second and third -- well then, all Soto has to do is step on the plate instead of try a desperate swipe tag. In that situation I think an IBB is mandatory, no matter who the hitter is.

"We're playing like we're waiting to get beat," the Cubs manager said after Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. "You don't have a big enough lead in September to play ball like that. Teams who play baseball like that invariably get caught, no matter how big the lead."

Yeah, that includes you too, Lou. I like Lou -- he's been a godsend to this team -- but last night wasn't his finest hour.

This is a strange month. There are 13 teams within five games of a playoff spot -- quite a large number for this late in the year -- and only five of them have winning September records:

Astros: 7-1
Dodgers: 7-1
Red Sox: 6-2
Mets: 5-2
Cardinals: 4-3
Angels: 4-4
Phillies: 4-4
White Sox: 3-5
Twins: 2-5
Rays: 2-6
D'backs: 2-6
Brewers: 2-7
Cubs: 1-6

Yes, only the bad play in Milwaukee has saved the Cubs from a horrid fate so far this month. Thank you for the second night in a row to the Reds, who came back and beat Milwaukee 5-4 in 11 innings after blowing a 4-1 lead. They'll play a day game today, with CC Sabathia on the mound for the Brewers, so the Cubs will know exactly how they need to do to reduce the magic number further before they take the field tonight in St. Louis.

I received an email from a friend last night, someone who is an occasional poster at this site, which read in its entirety:

Just shoot me now, it'll be less painful.

When I emailed him back to tell him I was going to post this -- and he can identify himself if he wants to, I won't -- he replied:

I still believe, but I'm taking Prilosec and buying a defibrillator off ebay.

I think we all need those. As ever, win tonight and the ship will begin to right itself.

There wasn't much worth remembering via photo about Saturday's game... so, while we wait for tonight's game, how about some memories from Friday's big win?

The US Navy Leap Frog Parachute Team delivers the flag before the game

Cesar Izturis tagged out at the plate on an attempted suicide squeeze in the 5th

Joe Mather tagged out at the plate after trying to score on a fly ball to Alfonso Soriano in the 6th

Jim Edmonds' curtain call after his game-tying HR in the 7th

Henry Blanco after delivering his game-winning hit

Who's first to greet him? Alfonso Soriano

Cubs celebrate the win on Friday

OK, there was ONE moment worth remembering from Saturday:

Carlos Zambrano crosses the plate after hitting his 15th career HR

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