The Cubs are #1 in this week's ESPN.com Power Ranking. Meanwhile, look at who's #4, #5 and #6. (And #18 and #19 if you want a smile or two.)
Jim Caple at ESPN.com says the major leagues should consider expanding to Japan in the future. He says the logistics can be taken care of, and I agree, but with the price of oil headed through the stratosphere, how much would it cost to fly teams there and back?
Bruce Miles tells us that Derrek Lee's going to get a day off when the Cubs return home on Monday. Best guess: he'll get Monday off, which would mean he wouldn't have to play from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday night, giving him more than two full days off. D-Lee doesn't want days off but there's no reason he has to play all 162, either.
Is Alfonso Soriano's leg OK? He says yes, but Lou is skeptical:
"I said, 'What's wrong?' " Piniella recounted. "He said, 'It's confidence.' I guess I have to check with his confidence tomorrow."If there's a problem, Soriano should go back on the DL till he's 100%.
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Once again, this is a pitching rematch of last Sunday at Wrigley Field, where Phil Dumatrait walked a zillion (OK, only seven) Cubs and Jason Marquis threw six decent innings and the Cubs hung on for a 4-3 win. For more on this pitching matchup see last Sunday's game thread.
Access tonight is on WGN, on FSN Pittsburgh (and thus EI), and at hte MLB.com Mediacenter.
MLB.com Gameday (2007 version)
MLB.com Gameday (2008 version)
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Today's overflow comment thread will post at 7:30 pm CT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.