Cubs rout Padres 11-3, sweep series

This afternoon the Cubs pounded the San Diego Padres. The game got off to a boring start and was tied 1-1 going in to the bottom of the fifth inning. It was in the bottom of the fifth that the Cubs offense exploded for 6 runs. The Cubs would add 4 more runs in the next inning and that was all she wrote for the Padres.

Today was interesting because Lou Piniella sat a few regulars and went with a new line-up. Today it was the bottom of the order stepping up and driving in the runs. Geovany Soto was 0-2 but did hit a Sac-Fly and had two RBIs for the game. Reed Johnson got the start in center-field and went 2-5, 2B, 2RBI, 2R. Even Aaron Miles (who I still think is a joke) was 2-5, 2B, RBI. But on this afternoon, Bobby Scales was the star of the game going 2-4, 2 2B, 4RBIs and did not strike out. He also started at third base and did not commit any errors. I really like Scales, he appreciates that he is getting his chance, and he is making the most of it (he is hitting .444). Although Mike Fontenot is slumping, I still feel as if Miles should be the one to sit, and that Scales should be getting more playing time while Aramis Ramirez is on the DL. Regulars Milton Bradley, Derrek Lee, and Fontenot had the day off.

I said that Ryan Dempster was due for a good start and today he finally had one: 7IP, 2ER, 3H, 5Ks. Today Dempster looked like he did last year, or maybe its just that the Padres line-up is terrible. Nevertheless, this was a big win for Dempster who improved to 3-2 for the season. The Dempster we saw today is the Dempster we need to see all summer. With Ted Lilly and Rich Harden clicking, and Carlos Zambrano due back soon, our starting rotation could dominate in the next few months. Recent call-up, Jose Ascanio, made his Cubs debut. Ascanio pitched 2 innings in mop-up duty allowing a solo HR to Drew Macias, not to be confused with Cubs-Legend, Jose Macias. I was impressed with Ascanio. He throws strikes and throws hard with a fastball touching 93-94. He had three strikeouts and no walks, something I am sure Lou noticed. Former Cub, Chad Gaudin, whom Ron Santo refers to as "Chad Go-Dad" was not impressive today: 4.1 IP, H, 4ER, 7BB, 3K. I can see why Lou Piniella wanted him out of town.

In other news, MLB announced after the game that Milton Bradley's suspension has been reduced to one game and will be served tomorrow. Too bad they could not have announced this yesterday after the Cubs gave Bradley the day off today. I have believed all along that Bradley did not deserve this suspension and I appreciate that he made a stand against MLB and stuck to his guns. I still say that the umpire who he "bumped" is full of bologna. Hopefully this incident will motivate Bradley who I still think is going to have a big summer for the Cubs.

Up next for the Cubs are the Houston Astros. Randy Wells will make his second start as a Cub and Brian Moehler (who is washed up) will start for the visiting Astros. By the way Moehler has an ERA of 8.44 and was on the DL recently. I expect the Cubs to stay hot and hit Moehler hard. We have now won four games in a row, let's go for five!