So we took care of the Pirates, big deal

The Cubs took 2 of 3 games from the Pirates in Pittsburgh to finish up 3-7 on their road trip. This was a terrible road trip for the Cubs, losing to Atlanta in a make-up game, getting swept by Detroit, and losing 2 of 3 to the White Sox. The Pirates are not a very good team (as evidenced by their recent trades) so we were supposed to beat them. Now the Cubs are back in Chicago for an 11-game home stand which includes a 4 games vs Milwaukee, 3 vs Atlanta, and 4 vs St. Louis. This is their most important stretch of games so far this season, if the Cubs are going to make any noise in the Division, now is the time to make a move.

Last night the Cubs beat the Pirates 4-1 behind a strong pitching performance by Randy Wells: 7IP, ER, 6H, BB, 4K, his record is now 3-3 with a 2.43 ERA. Wells has been very consistent since being called up from AAA, in his 10 starts only one could be considered bad. It feels like every time he goes out there, the Cubs have a very good chance of winning. Wells is quietly building up quite the case for Rookie of the Year. Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless 8th, he beaned the lead-off hitter, but got out of the inning unscathed. Kevin Gregg pitched an efficient 9th for his 14th save.

Offensively the Cubs looked good, and why shouldn't they, I mean they were facing Virgil Vasquez. Sam Fuld, who started in place of Alfonso Soriano, and lead-off, got the game started with a double down the line. Fuld looked like a real lead-off man! This is what your lead-off hitter is supposed to do, not swing at anything, and always look for homers. Fuld would come around to score on Derrek Lee's towering HR to center, his 12th of the season, he is also the first Cub to reach 40 RBI this season, so he is kinda like a dwarf among midgets. But the HR was great to see, Lee seems to be back on track for good, I hope he can keep it going on this upcoming home stand. The Cubs did not score again until the 6th when Fukudome hit a solo-HR to right, he hit the ball hard 3 times off of Vasquez, and looked like he was really seeing the ball clearly. Then in the 8th Geovany Soto hit a clutch single with RISP to score Milton Bradley from second, he was safe by a split-second at the plate. Four runs was enough to win the game easily, considering how well Wells pitched. Generally when the Cubs score at least 4 runs they are very successful.

Sam Fuld had a very good night 2-4, 2B, BB, R. He collected his first MLB hit and made a great throw to the plate to prevent a would-be Pirates run from scoring. I am by no means suggesting we sit Soriano (unless they wanna put him on the DL) but Fuld looked like a real lead-off hitter last night, which was nice to see. Fuld plays a little bit like Scott Podsednik, but is a better fielder, with a better arm. I would not be surprised at all if Fuld played again tonight. Ryan Theriot, Fukudome, and Soto each had two hits apiece, Soto had a 3B, the third of his career. Theriot and Lee both grounded into double plays, Theriot has done that a lot this season, I would not be surprised if he leads the team, for Lee it was only his 3rd of the season. Lee has improved greatly in that category from last season, the reason: he is hitting more fly-balls. Len Kasper said Lee hit a career high 240 ground balls last season and this season Lee made an effort to hit the ball in the air more often.

Furthermore, how could I forget Lou Piniella! Lou treated us with his first outburst/ejection of the season in the 6th inning of last night's game. He was arguing a play at first where Wells was called out but appeared to be safe on a close play. Earlier in that sequence Wells hit a ball right down the third base line that was ruled foul, it seemed as if Lou thought it was fair. Lou went out to argue these calls to stand up for his rookie pitcher. Wells responded nicely throwing a scoreless 6th and 7th innings where he looked very sharp. It was not one of Lou's best or funniest blow-ups, but he had to go out there, those were questionable calls at best.

Up Next: Cubs vs Brewers @ 7:05 on CSN and MLB Network (its the Thursday Night Baseball Game with Matt Vasgersian and Dan Plesac calling the game). Ryan Dempster (4-5, 4.09 ERA) is pitching agains Seth McClung (3-1, 3.55 ERA). You know how I feel about Dempster, so I will not bash him here, but he needs to start performing. I really do not expect much out of Dempster anymore these days, I would take a quality start, but I do not expect one. The Cubs have seen a lot of McClung the past few seasons, but as a reliever, not a starter. I am not exactly sure why they converted him to a starter anyway? But anywho, the Cubs should be able to score a few runs off of him, he is not that good of a pitcher. This is the first game of a four game series, the Cubs come in at 37-38 and 3.5 games behind the first-place Brewers who are 42-36. Now would be an ideal time for the Cubs to start playing well and get back in this Division race. Beware though, the Brewers are a good road-team with a 20-18 road record this season. The Cubs will not have to face the Brewers' ace, Yovani Gallardo in this series.