Cubs TCB at PNC

The cure to any bad road trip (the Cubs started 1-6) is a stop in Pittsburgh to play the always rebuilding Pirates. The Cubs needed to take game one of this three game series last night and that is exactly what they did. They did a rare thing last night: combined good pitching with timely hitting(although they were only 1-9 w/ RISP) , most of the season it has been one or the other for this Cubs team.
Rich Harden had one of his better starts of the season and looked like the Harden of last season: 7IP, ER, 9H, 9K, BB. Harden scattered those 9 hits and only one of them was for extra bases. This was Harden's first win since May 12 he is now 5-4 on the season with a still too high 4.57 ERA. The team really needed this start from Harden it was good to see him step-up and deliver. The Cubs better hope Harden can keep this up, if they get back in the division race we'll need him, if we fall out of contention we can trade him. The bullpen did its job last night as well as Carlos Marmol worked a perfect 8th only throwing 8 pitches, 7 of which were for strikes. Kevin Gregg picked up his 13th save with a scoreless 9th.
The offense got things going in the second inning with men at first and second with two outs Andres Blanco came up with a big RBI single, scoring Jake Fox, and giving the Cubs the lead 1-0. In the third Ryan Theriot hit a solo-HR to left, his 7th of the season. If you would have told me before the season that Theriot would even hit 5HRs this season, I would have said you are crazy! This guy might hit 10-12, which would be a huge bonus, I hope he still tries to drive the ball the other way however, since that is his bread & butter.
Also, when is Lou Piniella going to wake up and realize that Theriot is the perfect lead-off man for this team? Alfonso Soriano had another bad night 0-4, he is dead-weight on this team right now. If he is injured put him on the DL or hide him in the line-up, the Cubs can not afford to have a gimpy lead-off man who is not producing, especially since we are having so much trouble scoring runs as it stands.
Next, in the 4ht inning, Milton Bradley hit a rocket double to left scoring Geovany Soto, this would be the last run the Cubs would score and it would be enough to win as the Cubs held on to win 3-1. Bradley had a nice game going 2-4, 2B, RBI. It is too bad he can only hit from the right side right now, he is hitting over .300 as a righty, while he is hitting about .195 as a lefty. According to reports, Piniella is going to give Milton the next two games off so that he can work on his lefty swing with hitting coach Von Joshua. I really hope they can get him going from the left side, since that was the whole reason he was brought here in the first place. Jake Fox also had a good game going 2-3, BB, R and is showing that he can play every day at third base. I have said this before but when Aramis Ramirez comes back, Fox needs to stay up with the team, and either Mike Fontenot, Ryan Freel, or Aaron Miles needs to go back to AAA. Fox is hitting .347 and is a true power threat who can play 3B or OF, he can be our Mark DeRosa for the rest of the season, occasionally spelling Ramirez at 3B or Soriano in LF. Fox also happens to be our best pinch-hitter.
Speaking of Aaron Miles, he was placed on the 15-Day DL again (thank you!) and was replaced on the roster by OF Sam Fuld. This is awesome, I hope Miles buys a horse and moves to the mountains where he can't bother anybody. Fuld is a light hitting speed guy with solid defensive skills. Supposedly he is going to start this evening vs the Pirates in place of Bradley who is being benched vs right handed pitching.
Up Next: Cubs vs Pirates at 6:05pm on CSN+ or CLTV as most of us know it. Ted Lilly (7-5, 3.41 ERA) vs Ross Ohlendorf (6-6, 4.75 ERA). Lilly is due for a good start since he has had a few bad ones of late, I expect him to win tonight, and start a little winning streak for himself just in time to pitch in the all-star game. I have never heard of Ohlendorf, he is a big right hander who lefties can hit (they're hitting .327 against him). Since Milton is out of the line-up, I would at least expect to see Micah Hoffpauir play tonight, maybe Lou will give Derrek Lee the night off? I am also not sure if the Cubs have ever faced Ohlendorf, they usually struggle against new faces. I think they can manage a few runs off of Ohlendorf though and Lilly should pick up his 8th win tonight. If the Cubs win tonight they're back at .500, again.