Flipped by the Bird

Cubs lose 2 of 3 at home to Baltimore. Ouch. The magic of Wrigley didn't help with this series.

The team is still banged up with Zambrano and Soriano on the DL, Fukudome sitting out the final 2 games of the series and Eyre leaving Thursday's game with a groin pull.

Marquis slid back to mediocrity, going 4 innings and giving up 7 runs. He was brutalized in the third inning when he gave up 5 runs, all with 2 outs. Eyre managed to give up a couple runs before leaving the game and Lieber and Wuertz each gave up a run. It reached a horrific 11-0 Baltimore lead before the Cubs plated 3 in the sixth and another in the eigth. Sweet Lou gave up the goat and let Cotts bat for himself with two outs in the ninth.

On the plus side, Ward is back and got 2 hits in his 2 at bats, including an RBI single.

In other positive news, Piniella was added to the NL All-Star Game coaching staff. Lou replaces ousted manager Willie Randolph, who was tossed on the scrap heap by the Mets. This is good news for Lou, who gets another visit to Yankee Stadium before it tumbles. Piniella was a player for the Yanks from 1974-84 and manager from 1986-88. This is also good news for the Cubs, who will get a fair shake at grabbing home-field advantage for any possible World Series appearance this year. With Lou on the bench and a host of Cubbies with a chance to be on the team, they will have an impact. Sportsline has recent projections showing five Cubs with a shot to be on the roster (Soto, Lee, Soriano, Fukudome, Big Z). That doesn't even include Dempster (4th in NL ERA at 2.63 and 30 points higher than Santana at 5th and 4th in Wins at 9 behind Webb-11, Volquez-10, Cook-10 and tied with Sheets) and Wood (second in NL saves with 20 and 1 behind Brian Wilson).