What a rough week. Even the 3-day weekend didn't help. The Cubs have now lost four in a row, Fukudome is looking at pine time and two ace pitchers are looking at missing starts.
The dogs are beginning to howl and the fans are antsy. The heroics of the first few Phillie games (Ramirez granny on Friday, Soriano's game winning HR in the seventh on Saturday) were quickly forgotten over the next four games. To put it mildly, the Cubs have looked bad. The hitting is dormant and the pitchers are fumbling.
The last thing any Cub fan wants to hear about is star pitchers with dead arms and injuries. However, the team still sits atop the majors with 85 wins and a 4 1/2 game lead over the Brewers (who are having their own heart palpitations over Sheets and his groin right now). Even the hand wringing over the away record has subsided some now that the Cubs are 34-31 away from Wrigley.
The bad news is that September includes 6 vs St Louis, 6 vs Milwaukee, and four more against Houston, who have been playing well. The only relief is a three game set at Cincy because the four games in NY with a Mets team hanging tight to a 2 game lead in the East will not be easy. To add to the drama, among the 5 teams (4 in the NL) with more away victories than the Cubs are Milwaukee, St Louis, and the Mets.
It's liable to get intense, but I still think the Cubs have the goods. The question remains how well they can position themselves for the playoffs. They need to get Zambrano right and continue to keep an eye on Harden. I'm looking for Dempster to prove just how valuable he is to this team by carrying them toward the playoffs along with strong efforts by Lilly and Marquis, who has done good work lately. The offense has been in a lull recently, but top to bottom, they are too good to stay there.
Dempster can start tonight by halting this losing streak and putting the team back in gear before heading off to Cincy.
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