Has anyone else noticed how this downturn has manifested itself? Allow me to illustrate:

WAS GM 1 - Loss
WAS GM 2 - Win
WAS GM 3 - Loss
MIL GM 1 - Loss
MIL GM 2 - Win
MIL GM 3 - Loss
STL GM 1 - Loss
STL GM 2 - Win
STL GM 3 - Loss
CIN GM 1 - Loss
CIN GM 2 - Win
CIN GM 3 - Loss

That's right, folks, the Cubs are currently in a pattern where they infallibly win the middle game in a series, while equally infallibly dropping the other two. The good news is, they don't get swept. The bad news is, if you win at a .333 clip long enough, the good news becomes moot.

Obviously, nothing good can happen relative to the season as a whole until they break that pattern. Naturally, they have to try doing that today against the best team in the Majors. Of course, if they can manage such a trick - in a positive way, I mean, realizing that getting broomified would also count as pattern alteration - it would, at least seemingly, have a lot more meaning than doing so in, say, the coming Pirates series. That said, remember that the sweep of the Mets was supposed to prove something, and this stretch of horror is what immediately followed.

Really, all I want are some wins, and some good play to build on. My schedule's clear. What say we do it now?

So, is it time for the 'Free Ronny Cedeno' movement yet? I swear, I never thought I'd write those words - that is, unless Cedeno were wrongly accused of a crime that I'd been a witness to, seeing it wasn't he that pulled the trigger, knowing with my eyes and heart that it was, in fact, the one-armed-man who'd done the deed. Ask me at the beginning of the year, and the fantastic scenario above would have been rated at approximately 217% more likely to spur a liberty campaign on Ronny's behalf than his play on the field.

Yet, here we are, a week into May, and I've come around to thinking that Ronny Effin Cedeno needs to be in the lineup everyday until he plays his way out of it. Next thing you know, I'll be buying Clay Aiken albums and putting ketchup on my hot dogs.

It's not just the results, either, it's way he's gotten them. His approach at the plate is so different as to call into question his identity. He's not a masked man, but perhaps someone with discipline and bat control has made himself a lovely Ronny Suit. Stranger things have happened. Last night's two-out, two-run single is an excellent example:

Down a strike, Harang throws Cedeno a breaking ball, but coming out of his hand it doesn't necessarily look like one. It's a pretty nice pitch, so it initially appears to be a fastball on the outer half, at least judging by Cedeno's reaction. Based on what he's seeing he has to swing, because he can't reasonably sit on a pitch that looks like a good one to drive up the line and let himself get down two strikes. Up to this point, what we're seeing is exactly what we'd see in years previous. What's changed isn't the choice to swing, but rather, the choice of how to swing.

Think back to days of yore - 2006, to be precise - and imagine a similar situation. Men on second and third in a one-run game, two-out, and Ronny Cedeno is at the plate. He sees what looks like a good pitch to hit hard up the line and - zoom! - out go his hands, his bat flies over the ball, and around on his front heel he spins, wondering why that pill done moved so much.

This time around, instead of letting his hands lead, he starts to shift his weight but keeps his grab-nabbers back because he's down 0-1, and with Harang having already tossed a slider for a strike, he might just come with another. What this does is put him in position to punch a fastball into right - because his weight has shifted, the most time consuming part of the swing - while giving him the time he needs to react to the flight and spin of the ball. Watching the replay, Cedeno clearly sees as his weight shifts that it is not, in fact, a fastball - you can see as you view the footage a little hitch in his swing, a small delay as he holds back to time the pitch he now sees is a breaker - adjusts accordingly, and dumps the ball into right.

It's these sort of adjustments, along with the fact that he's been able to both foul off tough pitches all year, while managing to draw his share of free passes, that make me think he's finally turned a corner. Probably not to the tune of .373/.458/.549, but certainly enough to justify putting him in the lineup every day. Perhaps even at shortstop. Perhaps even - hold onto your hats when I say this folks - in the leadoff spot. He's seeing a lot of pitches, he has good speed, and he seems to have mastered the art of bat control. More and more, he's looking like someone that, at least in the short term, you can put in that top spot and get a boost out of, which again, I can't honestly believe I'm saying.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to run to the store. I think I'm out of ketchup.

An odd combination of exhilaration and searing pain this week.  Let's relive some glory and pick some scabs.

Game 26
Opponent: Milwaukee
Result: Loss
Score: 10-7
Big Play: Mike Cameron's seventh-inning, two-out, two-RBI single.  The Brewers were already ahead, but that was the blow that essentially put the game out of reach on a night when no one seemed able to pitch.
Big Player: Cameron again.  3 for 5 with a walk, two RBI and two runs scored.  His presence was the spark that got the Brewers' offense to ignite.
We'll talk about this game next year because: It will be nail n, where n + x = Total nails needed to seal Jason Marquis' coffin.

Game 27
Opponent: Milwaukee
Result: Win
Score: 19-5
Big Play: Geovany Soto's first inning, three-run homer capped the six run inning that finished the game almost before it started.
Big Player: All Geo.  Two three-run homers will get you some love any day of the week, even when your six RBI account for less than a third of the offense.
We'll talk about this game next year because:  Who doesn't like to talk about being on the good side of a rout?

Game 28
Opponent: Milwaukee
Result: Loss
Score: 4-3
Big Play - Micro Version: Alfonso Soriano's misplay that became Gabe Kapler's ninth inning double that kicked open the door Kerry Wood had already left slightly ajar by plunking Craig Counsel.
Big Play - Macro Version: The fifth inning defensive play where, as we all found out after the game, Yovani Gallardo blew out his ACL.
Big Player: Ryan Braun, who was 3 for 5 with a homer, a double, and three RBI, the double being the hit that gave them their final lead.
We'll talk about this game next year because: The Cubs may have lost the game - and in dramatic, disappointing fashion - but the Brewers lost one of their best starting pitchers for the rest of the year.  As painful as the loss was, I'll take the Cubs' side of the bargain.

Game 29
Opponent: St. Louis
Result: Loss
Score: 5-3
Big Play: When Rich Hill was deservedly yanked after recording only two outs in the bottom of the first, the course of the game was set.  Although the Cubs came close to winning, once the game went into extras, and the need to deploy Chad Fox arose, the loss became all but inevitable.
Big Player: Hit a game winning homer in extras, you're the player of the game. I think that's the rule I learned first in Weekly Recap 101, so Skip Schumaker, this one's yours.
We'll talk about this game next year because: It will either mark the beginning of Rich Hill's return to usefulness via a vigorous search through the cornfields of Iowa, resulting in the eventual relocation of his Ding-A-Ling, or whatever it is he's lost, or it will be the start of Jon Lieber's permanent return to the rotation.  Perhaps both, depending on what x equals.

Game 30
Opponent: St. Louis
Result: Win
Score: 9-3
Big Play: Mike Fontenot hit the first homer of the year off of Kyle Lohse, a three-run job, giving the Cubs a 6-0 lead that they would never relinquish.
Big Player: Little Mikey Hottentot, hoppin' through the forest, scoopin' up the Cardinals, and boppin' 'em on the head.
We'll talk about this game next year because: After his third solid start in a row, it was the day we could finally breathe easy about Ted Lilly. 

Game 31
Opponent: St. Louis
Result: Loss
Score: 5-3
Big Play: The fourth inning, two-out, two-run double from Albert Pujols that gave the Cardinals the lead for good.
Big Player: Adam Kennedy, who got on base every time up, and drove in two runs to boot.  It was his walk with two out in the fourth that brought Albert Pujols to the plate.
We'll talk about this game next year because: Everyone likes to cry in their beer sometimes.

The Week That Was

Season Record	18-13
Season RS/RA	189/105
Week's Record	2-4
Week's RS/RA	44/32
Games Back	1.5
Change	-2.0

Those RS/RA figures are incredibly deceiving, considering the distribution of the Cubs' scoring this week.  The Cubs outscored their opponents 28-8 in their two victories, and were outscored 24-16 in their four losses.  Depending on your outlook, it can either be a source of profound frustration, or a silver lining, that the Cubs really only seemed to be out of Game 26, and even that one had some suspense.  In every loss this week you could make a case that a play here and there would have altered the outcome, and while it may make the results hard to take, the fact that the margins were so slim should be taken as a hopeful sign of an impending turnaround.

Here's the rather expected news that Rich Hill is on his way to Iowa, with Sean Gallagher taking his place on the roster, although not in the rotation. That slot is going to Jon Lieber, which despite what I wrote earlier, really makes the most short term sense. The club can't afford to wait for Marshall to stretch out, and Lieber's been too good to not give him the ball so he can take those innings that've been falling to the bullpen of late.

The big thing here is the hope that, out of the spotlight, Hill can figure out what the problem is, which near as I can tell, is almost entierly between his ears. I probably have more to say on this - I know a little something about overthinking during public performances - but I need some time to gather my thoughts. However, the short of it is, I think Hill has ceased to truly believe he can pitch. When asked, he says he believes in his ability, and he might even be fooling himself well enough that his conscious mind is in on the act, but it's obvious when he's throwing that he's feeling the stares of his detractors every time he makes a mistake, and that's something a Major League player cannot afford to do.

Hill needs to spend some time in Iowa, have the success he's almost certain to have, and regain control of the little demon in his head - the one that's whispering the false tale of his incompetence with every pitch. He needs it. The Cubs need it. Best of luck, Rich. We're rooting for you.

If I may be so gauche, I'd like to take a moment to quote myself.

These are heady days here in Cub Town. Winning eight out of nine and five in a row can make a fella giddy, especially when the last few games have been taken in such convincing fashion. It's important to remember, though, that these moments are fleeting. Later this season, when the Cubs have lost four of five and look listless, purposeless, helpless, take the lessons of the last week and recall again, that these moments are fleeting, that like the bliss before it, this horror too, shall pass. Then smile, and enjoy some baseball.

That was written on April 23rd. Seem like a lifetime ago? Well, that's what I was talking about, I suppose. It's an incredibly long season, and there are wonderful moments and terrible moments woven throughout. Joyful times, and sad times. Stretches of glory, and stretches of infamy. Now, after a lovely period of the former, we're immersed in the morass of the latter, which means it's time to remember, once again, that all things come to an end, and that as quickly as it all went sour, that it shall soon enough turn sweet again. I feel confident that this is a good team playing poorly, rather than a bad team showing its true colors, and that being the case, the reversal will arrive in due time.

So in that spirit, and since we're all too familiar with exactly what went wrong, I'd like to recount some positives from last night, speak a bit of things that went right, if only to remind us that even now as we slog through the mire of disappointment, it's not all bad.

• Jon Lieber continues to be a rock during times of crisis, so much so that despite the fact that Rich Hill clearly needs to go somewhere else for a while and get his head on straight, I'm not sure Liebs is the guy to take his place. Apparently, neither is Lou, as his post-game noise was along the lines of putting Marshall in the rotation, especially since Scott Eyre is nearly ready to return and take over the lefty-killing duties that have thus far belonged to Sean.

  If that action were taken, though, I'd expect we'd see something of a tandem start during Marshall's first few turns, since he's nowhere near being stretched out enough. Between Marshall and Lieber you'd be able to get a solid, long start's worth of work, and by the fourth turn or so Marshall would be able to handle five or six frames on his own, and Lieber could return to more normal bullpen duties, or else be stretched out enough himself to supplant what will by then likely be the all-too-horrible-to-bear work of Jason Marquis.

  I think the other hope inherent in this plan is that by the All-Star Break, Hill has cured himself by taking the waters of Des Moines, and that there's a difficult decision to be made regarding which solid starter Hill's re-emerging talent forces aside. A bit pie-in-the-sky to be sure, but not so unreasonable as to be deemed utterly ridiculous.

• Kudos to Bob Howry. My first thought when he entered the game was a sort of dismissive, 'there goes the neighborhood' notion, but he proved me wrong. Sure, a run scored, but since he had to get six outs in one inning to escape, he can be forgiven if a tally came to pass. Throwing as poorly as he has early on, it was nothing short of a herculean mental effort to keep his wits about him and stay focussed on the job at hand, but that he did, and in spades, following that work with yet another scoreless frame. Had the Cubs pulled out this victory, however undeserved, Howry's effort would have deserved substantial credit.

• Kudos also to Chad Fox, for while he gave up the winning run, he did manage to keep the team alive during the previous frame, and for a man in his situation, that's all that can be reasonably asked, and even that's a stretch. He has, indeed, made it back to the big time, and while I'd imagine he's unlikely to be there for long, what with the likelihood that his arm could explode and take out the surrounding countryside at a moment's notice, it's difficult not to root for a guy who's gone through so much. Here's hoping he's as successful as possible in the pursuit of his dream, and that whatever the end result, his efforts contribute positively to the club's greater goals.

Another match-up I don't like today, with Kyle Lohse - who's gotten it done this year with smoke and mirrors - versus Ted Lilly, who until his last start had only wished for such theatrical efficacy. I could be wrong - and often am - but I'm not looking at this game as the beginning of the turnaround. It'll come, I just don't feel it today.

I realize there are another 134 games yet to be played, and that even if the Cubs were to pile up 100 victories and make the question of who might win the division moot by September, that there will, indeed, be other losses like yesterday's. Still, I find myself in need of a bit of therapy this morning, so I'm going to confront my emotional demons by listing some of the reason's why this particular defeat is so hard to bear.

This loss smarts because:

• It was a loss to the Brewers
• It looked like a win for so long
• It knocked the Cubs out of first
• Now the Cardinals lead the division
• Fukudome was safe
• I doth, methinks, unhealthily adore Kerry Wood
• They all smart, dammit

You know, I don't actually feel better. I do, however, have a bucket of fear about this series against the Cards. The Cubs have played them extremely tough the last couple years, and all indications are this St. Louis club plays with a real chip on their shoulder. Add in that there's not one pitching matchup in this series that I like (although my trepidation about Sunday has less to do with facing Todd Wellemeyer than it does with sending Marquis to the bump), and I'm basically going to be an anxiety puddle for the next three days.

The thing is, I intellectually understand how silly this is - compare the team's current situation to last year's, and I'll take what's going on now hands down. It's the psychological effect of a tough loss beating me down - I get that. Had the game been one where the Brewers scored four in the first, with the Cubs striking back with three in the bottom of the frame and that score holding for the remainder of the contest, it would still be unpleasant, but not nearly as painful, despite the scores and results being identical.

So here it is. I know what I need. I need Rich Hill to throw a great game. I need the offense to wear down Adam Wainwright. I need tonight to be a psychological eraser, and I'd imagine the Cubs do to. We know what we need, boys, so let's go out and get it done.

It was improbable, all but inconceivable, really. Who, other than a certain group of blue-pinstriped men or a supernaturally prescient being, would say otherwise? But, incomprehensibly, Ryan Dempster has proved me very, very wrong: He has been a very good starting pitcher.

It was just a clever ploy masterminded by Jim Hendry, I told myself. Hendry would hope and pray that Dempster the starting pitcher would mow down the lackluster spring competition, and then leverage those mostly meaningless stats into a pre-season deal. Surely Hendry had no intention of letting Lou Piniella actually send Dempster to the mound every five days to start a game -- every five days out of the bullpen would have seemed more fitting. This, after all, was a pitcher whose career ERA as a starter bordered on five, who had not started a significant number of games in more than four years, and who is now on the wrong side of 30.

But there was no trade, no return to the bullpen, no spring training meltdown. And fantasy baseball owners snapped up Sean Marshall and Jon Lieber, just waiting for Dempster's inevitable failure and the subsequent hot-swapping. Perhaps they wait still; I hate to dampen this wondrous April, but regression to the mean is an inescapable foe. But fear not, dear owners: Jason Marquis, at least, remains a tried and true time bomb, ticking onward to mid-summer and his subsequent devolution into a pumpkin with arms.

I remain bewildered, though. How does a man go from essentially league-average as a reliever one year (99 ERA+) to stud starter the next (136 ERA+)? Maybe there's more to all that running up Camelback Mountain than we thought.

(Aside: One of my uncles lives in Phoenix, and for many years hiked the mountain regularly without water, no matter the blazing temperature. He still does his hikes, though less frequently and, so I'm told, with fluids in tow, after years of insistence from my aunt. Why he would need any encouragement to re-hydrate in such heat remains a mystery, though, much like how he always returned home alive, not shriveled.)

Or maybe it's something else. Dempster's not throwing more strikes, averaging, as he did last season, 1.7 strikes per ball. His strikeouts are down by more than two per nine innings to 5.35, and his walks are up half a walk per game to 4.62. Somehow, though, he's keeping batters from hits and home runs at, for his career, unprecedented rates. The key, I think, is this: more than 55 percent of all balls he allows in play are groundballs, almost matching the rate from his stellar 33-save 2005 season and up from 51 and 47 percent in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

That's an encouraging trend, if one that's highly dependent on the Cubs' infield defense. And from what I've seen, Dempster's been keeping the ball down -- it's unsurprising, then, that he's getting more grounders -- to great success.

I'll end with a question: Do any of you, dearest readers, have access to, or know where to find, Dempster's Pitch F/X data from last season? I'm curious to see the differences between this season and last.

I'm sitting at Reagan National waiting for my flight home. I had half a mind to go to a National's game last night, see the new stadium and all that. Then I realized that the Cubs would actually be on ESPN, and since I also happened to still be waiting for my ears to pop from the flight in, feeling suitably nervous about blowing a drum on my return (I took Benadryl about an hour ago, and I can tell it's working because I'm typing this on three phones with six hands), I took the less adventurous road and settled in for some hopefuly comforting TV.

That's exactly what I got. Other than the top of the first, the outcome was never in doubt, providing a perfect tonic for what ailed me. A nice, joyous romp, with Everyone's New Favorite Cub, Geovany Soto, flat out owning the joint. More please.

Gotta finish my Dunkin' Donuts coffee (which I truly don't understand the appeal of) and board my flight. More later, folks, and thanks for bearing with the silence of late.

Sports Illustrated hates America and Freedom and Baby Seals, the end.

I'm behind this week, so apologies all around.  Despite the Cubs going 4-3, only one team managed to gain any ground.  Let's take the tour.

1. St. Louis Cardinals

   Season Record	16-10
   Season RS/RA	120/96
   Week's Record	4-3
   Week's RS/RA	33/28
   Games Back	0.5
   Change	--

   Two splits with the Brewers and Pirates, then a series win against the Astros. Solid, respectable stuff. After their 5-1 start, that's what they've settled into - being solid and respectable as they spend week after week outscoring their opponents by a few runs here and there. If there's a looming crisis, it's in their bullpen, where Jason Isringhausen has been problematic, getting tagged for two of the losses this week. Right now, it looks like the Cards need their starters to bring their A-game every time out so there's enough of a margin by the end to support some slippage from the relief corps, and as I look at the current rotation assemblage, I can't see that happening long term.

   However, this team has been playing out it's ideal scenario - managing to get better work than could be reasonably expected out of a rag-tag group of hurlers until the cavalry can come: namely, Mark Mulder and Chris Carpenter. Clearly, the rotation as is won't hold out for the entire season, so the real test of this club's relevance will come as these two men make their way back.

2. Milwaukee Brewers

   Season Record	14-11
   Season RS/RA	111/102
   Week's Record	3-4
   Week's RS/RA	34/28
   Games Back	2.0
   Change	-1.0

   As Jason Kendall and Gabe Kapler rejoin the rest of us on Earth, the guys who are supposed to get it done finally are. The problem is the bullpen - 300 Spartans strong - can't hold up to extended exposure at the moment, which is what it got in both the extra-inning games the club dropped this week.

   Their rotation will be alright, their offense will be alright, but this group of relievers needs to shape up (and become fewer in number), and fast, or they're going to have their season ruined by incremental assault in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

3. Houston Astros

   Season Record	12-14
   Season RS/RA	115/115
   Week's Record	5-2
   Week's RS/RA	42/27
   Games Back	4.5
   Change	+1.0

   Their only losses on the week were to the Cardinals, whom they seem genetically hard-wired to piss off. Still, it's hard not to come out on top when you've got guys like Tejada and Berkman completely destroying the ball - .394/.429/.636 and .400/.485/1.000 on the week respectively.

   It also looks as if both problem pitchers - Oswalt and Valverde - have found some semblance of a groove, so fingers can remove themselves from panic buttons, at least in the short term.

4. Cincinnati Reds

   Season Record	11-15
   Season RS/RA	116/124
   Week's Record	3-4
   Week's RS/RA	38/37
   Games Back	5.5
   Change	-1.0

   Talk all you want about Johnny Cueto. Right now, I'd take Edinson Volquez, hands down. He got two starts this week, and was sick in both, overall pitching 14 innings while giving up 8 hits, 7 walks and 2 runs with 17 strikeouts. If you're wondering why the Reds didn't do better on the week, simply subtract two runs from their total allowed over the period, and spread that over the remaining five games.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

   Season Record	10-15
   Season RS/RA	111/154
   Week's Record	3-4
   Week's RS/RA	30/37
   Games Back	6.0
   Change	-1.0

   They were unspeakably bad last week, but they shaped up a bit this time around, and helped themselves immensely going forward by the simple act of punting on Matt Morris. I was never a Morris fan, what with his being a constant nemesis on good Cardinal teams a few years ago, but even so, it's been a little sad to see the way he deteriorated - first slowly, losing effectiveness incrementally over time, then finally crashing so terribly this year. Still, the Pirates did what was best for their team, which was to acknowledge the irremediable sunken-ness of his cost, and stop him from doing further unnecessary damage to their season by sending him on his way. I doubt he'll find another team, so hopefully he has a nice rest of his life.

I didn't see John Lannan and the Nationals shut down the Cubs yesterday, and listened only sparingly, but my ignorance was probably for the best. I always end up frustrated, as I suppose any reasonable fan will, when watching a no-name like Lannan fluster the Cubs so.

But these things are cyclical. Like a lawn in the spring, the Cubs grew tall and ambitious, with blades of grass yearning to reach the clouds, only to be cut down, edged neatly and weed-whacked thoroughly for the first -- and certainly not the last -- time this year. The normal way of things is no cause for worry. Given time, the Cub offense will be clicking once more.

* * * *

I wonder: What happened to those people who said the Cubs had no room for Alfonso Soriano in a lineup that was running like a fine-tuned, high-performance baseball-playing wonder machine and that has now, as was bound to happen, pulled off the road and into a gas station -- silently cursing, in its anthropomorphic way, the pushing-four-dollars-per-gallon gas prices -- to refill the tank and clear the windshield of the splattered remains of most of the National League?

Not a great week, not a bad week.  The Cubs started off continuing to score a ton of runs, but it was by the skin of their teeth, often coming through with big hits at the last possible moment.  Later on, those opportunities were still there, just with less clutchitudinal action.  I like to think this was a blip on the radar screen and that, come Tuesday, we'll see some more tallies on the board.

Game 19
Opponent: New York
Result: Win
Score: 7-1
Big Play: Ronny Cedeno's two-out, two-run, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the eighth.  It was a close game up to that point, and after Mark DeRosa and Geovany Soto both failed to get anything done with the sacks full, it looked like a potential momentum changing moment for the Mets.  That's when Cedeno stepped up, had a great at bat, and delivered the death blow.
Big Player: Carlos Zambrano threw seven innings of one-run ball, holding the Mets down after Aramis Ramirez gave him the lead in the first with his two-run shot.  Anytime Z starts, there's an approximately 95% chance he'll be the guy I talk about here.  He's been that good.
We'll talk about this game next year because: It was the most hard-fought six-run win the team's likely to have all season.

Game 20
Opponent: New York
Result: Win
Score: 8-1
Big Play: If the Cubs have the bases loaded in the bottom on the eighth and blow their shot to score with only one out, who else can be coming to the plate but Ronny Cedeno.  This time, it was his grand slam that broke the game wide open
Big Player: This is tough.  There's Cedeno and his 5 RBI, there's Lilly and his wriggling out of trouble all day - even if he was a little lucky at times, but since I'm forcing myself to choose, I'll go with the guy who went to the plate five times and didn't make an out - Kosuke Fukudome.
We'll talk about this game next year because: As poorly as they played in this series, and despite the brevity of the encounter, it was still the 'NL Favorite' Mets the Cubs swept, and after all the talk about the Cubs' soft schedule to this point, seeing domination on this scale was an affirming experience to say the least.

Game 21
Opponent: Colorado
Result: Win
Score: 7-6
Big Play: As important as Ryan Theriot's game-winning single was, the real moment of truth was when Aramis Ramirez found the Cubs two outs from defeat in the top of the ninth, and turned the tables with his two-run homer that gave the Cubs a brief one-run lead.  It didn't provide the final margin of victory, but without it, the win couldn't have been achieved.
Big Player: Geovany Soto went 4-5 with a double and a homer.  He's hitting seventh most days, but I'd be shocked if he didn't eventually switch spots with current sixth hitter, Mark DeRosa.
We'll talk about this game next year because: This victory was a great example of how this team refuses to give up.

Game 22
Opponent: Colorado
Result: Loss
Score: 4-2
Big Play: Ryan Theriot's bobble on what could have been an inning-ending, tie-saving double play in the bottom of the eighth.  On a day where the Cubs couldn't get anything going against Aaron Cook, everything had to go perfectly to
Big Player: Jason Marquis had his second consecutive solid start, lasting seven innings and giving up only two runs.  His performance kept the Cubs in striking distance all day, and with the way the offense has performed thus far, that's really all you can ask.
We'll talk about this game next year because: Sometimes, you just want to cry a little.

Game 23
Opponent: Washington
Result: Loss
Score: 5-3
Big Play: Wil Neives' game-ending, first Major League, two-run homer.
Big Player: No one was particularly good in this game, so I suppose you have to give it to the guy who ended it.  Bobby Howry.  Wil Neives
We'll talk about this game next year because: If you've seen a better catch than Reed Johnson's all-out sprint over roughly 3/4 of Virginia, ending in a diving, death-wish, snow-cone grab and wall collision, then it's because you've been watching film of Willie Mays.

Game 24
Opponent: Washington
Result: Win
Score: 7-0
Big Play: Mark DeRosa's first inning, one-out, bases-loaded single upped the Cubs' lead to a comfortable three runs.  Once the Cubs hit that margin with Big Z on the mound, they were in the driver's seat.
Big Player: Remember what I said earlier about games Zambrano starts?  Well, it's no exception here.  Tossing seven totally dominant shutout innings will do that for a fella, even when he nearly doubles his YTD walk total in the process.  This was vintage 'Good Z', where his pitches moved so much, not even he knew where they were going, and while I love seeing the 'New Z' we've had the pleasure of witnessing most of this year, I won't be upset if this iteration shows up every five or six starts, just for old time's sake.
We'll talk about this game next year because: It wrapped up in dominant fashion Carlos Zambrano's best April ever.

Game 25
Opponent: Washington
Result: Loss
Score: 2-0
Big Play: Ryan Theriot's inning-ending, bases-loaded, fifth-inning GIDP.  Anything but a double-play at least keeps the inning alive for Derrek Lee, so even if Theriot doesn't drive anyone in himself, merely making one out keeps the bases loaded for the Cubs' best hitter.  Losing this opportunity to drive in a run, or allow Lee to bat with runners in scoring position was a huge blow to the club's chances.
Big Player: John Lannan gets the nod this time, because while he didn't always stay in the strike zone, he managed to keep the ball out of dangerous parts of it, which turned out to be more important.  The Cubs put runners on base, but could never square anything up to drive the ball and get those men across the plate, and as much as I'd like to put that on the Cubs, I think Lannan's work was the real difference.
We'll talk about this game next year because: It was the first time the Cubs were shut out, and will be a source of discussion because of the rarity of the feat.

The Week That Was

Season Record	16-9
Season RS/RA	145/105
Week's Record	4-3
Week's RS/RA	34/19
Games Back	--
Change	--

The bad news is, the Cubs had three games where they scored three or fewer runs, all of them losses.  The good news is, the pitching staff had a fantastic week, with all of the starters having solid to spectacular efforts, the worst of which being either Rich Hill's five inning, two-run effort in Game 21, or Ryan Dempster's seven inning, three-run (two earned) effort in Game 23.  When those are the bad outings, something's going right.

The offense will come back around - the opportunities were there in all but one of their losses - but seeing the starting staff have such a nice week after all their early struggles makes the tight losses a little easier to take.

Is everyone having fun? I sure am. As difficult as this last victory was, I'm actually thrilled to see the club show, once again, that it doesn't have to completely own a game to win it. As enjoyable as it is to have stretches like the four games previous where domination is the fashion of the day, you won't win all your games that way. Sometimes, you're going to have to fight like hell, make some mistakes, then get back in there and fix 'em to come out on top.

This is what the Cubs did last night. They had a good thing going, tried desperately to make a mess of it, then got their heads screwed on straight and finished the job. If there's one word that describes this team right now, it's the one at the top of the page, and there's nothing more entertaining for a fan than to root for a good team that plays like they were manufactured by Cyberdyne Systems.

• Rich Hill had a very solid outing that began as a negative image of his previous start. Last time out, he missed consistently with his fastball, only getting by because he could spot his curve and Pirate batters are generous with the swinging and the hacking and the outmaking. Yesterday, he was able to control his heat very well, but for the first 3.1 innings, he couldn't get his bender over the plate if he drilled a hole in the ball and plotted it's course with a string.

  Then, after walking Matt Holliday and giving up a single to Garrett Atkins, he suddenly found Mr. Yakker hidden somewhere under the resin bag and began making folks look silly. That's when the bottom of the sixth came around, where he gave up a leadoff bomb to Clint Barmes, and summarily walked Todd Helton, managing to lose Mr. Yakker yet again in the process. I'd suggest purchasing a leash.

  This is where things get a little odd. Lou goes to the bullpen, and despite the fact that Hill had renewed issues with his curve, he wasn't missing so badly as to make one think they were irremediable. Clearly, there's a confidence gap at this point - note the difference in treatment between Hill and Lilly, when I think you could argue that Hill was having the better outing up to the point of crisis. Plus, I don't think starting to play matchups in the sixth is an ideal strategy unless you've got a guy going nuclear on the bump, which Hill clearly was not.

  In the end it worked out alright, and I don't think this particular instance was a huge deal on its own, but it's a trend that bears watching, at least when it comes to the treatment of Hill.

• Speaking of things I don't understand, pinch-running Felix Pie for Derrek Lee in the top of the ninth was an extraordinarily strange move. Now, I get that Pie's faster, and that he has a better chance to score on a ball in the gap, but even though he's not the same base-stealer he once was, Lee still runs very well, and I think, especially in that park with its massive outfield, the number of extra base hits that Pie could score on that Lee couldn't is small enough to make any advantage gained insignificant. The only thing you get in that transaction is the ability to swipe a bag and the tie the game on a single, but since there were four pitches in the Ramirez at bat and Pie didn't look like he was even considering running on any of them, that theory goes out the door.

  I've said before that I love the way Lou is willing to pull out all the stops to get in position to win, but this seemed to take that ethic too far. Swapping out your best hitter for a fringe gain at best, in a game that you are clearly trying to play into an extra inning contest, doesn't make a ton of sense.

• I don't think I've said much about Geovany Soto, so let me take a moment to speak up and proclaim my deep and abiding man-love for this kid. I've been wondering for years what it would be like to have a catcher who could not only hit the ball, but play the game behind the plate as well. Right now, he's looking like the total package, and while I wouldn't expect him to continue to be quite so productive as he's been, I'm imagining that regression to the mean is his case is only half a step rearward.

  Here's another thing: every time I see his face on camera, I'm reminded of Mike Piazza. Sure, he's a bit chunkier, but there's something about the facial hair and general arrangement of his features that echoes Piazza in his youth. Now he's hitting like him - .353/.451/.618 as of last night - while still managing to have, you know, an arm. I'll take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday, thanks.

  The trick going forward is going to be keeping him fresh, because folks in Los Angeles have seen what happens when you let a backstop work too much in the early going, and the Cubs can't afford to have Soto huffing and puffing his way down the stretch.

• As a side note: the talk during the broadcast of Soto hitting for the cycle was hilarious. Even in Colorado, I can't envision a scenario where Soto hits a triple that doesn't involve an unconscious outfielder. He's just that slow.

This afternoon brings a shot at another mini-sweep, and the opportunity to match last year's high for consecutive wins, but I don't much care for the match-up. Aaron Cook is exactly the type of pitcher who historically gives the Cubs fits - hard sinker, pounds the zone - and I suspect Jason Marquis will have to be his pre-June best to keep up. Stranger things have happened, though, and at the very least I feel confident that, even if they lose, this Cub team won't go down without a fight.

These are heady days here in Cub Town. Winning eight out of nine and five in a row can make a fella giddy, especially when the last few games have been taken in such convincing fashion. It's important to remember, though, that these moments are fleeting. Later this season, when the Cubs have lost four of five and look listless, purposeless, helpless, take the lessons of the last week and recall again, that these moments are fleeting, that like the bliss before it, this horror too, shall pass. Then smile, and enjoy some baseball.

• I love watching the little adjustments guys make, whether it's over weeks or milliseconds, and as useful as Gameday is, those tweaks obviously don't shine through even the best non-video internet applications. So, with that knowledge in hand, it should come as no surprise that when I scanned through my recorded version of the game, I spent an inordinate amount of time viewing and reviewing the footage of Reed Johnson's RBI single in the fourth.

  It was a classic case of a batter reading fastball out of the pitcher's hand, but finding to his horror as the pill approached that it was a sweeping breaking ball. Now, I admire majestic home runs as much as the next guy, but there's something wondrous to behold about a man who only has part of a second to decide to hit a baseball, who is able in the middle of that commitment to completely alter the nature of it, which is exactly what Johnson did.

  So there he was yesterday, out on his front foot, starting to swing at a heater, yet in that partial second still noting the ball's rotation, and seeing he'd been fooled, reprojecting the ball's flight in his mind's eye, following the newer more accurate trajectory, and finally adjusting his swing to get his bat on it. His hips had fully rotated, but as you'll hear all the time on broadcasts, he kept his hands back, which allowed him to, upon recognizing the reality of the situation, make that little change and get him some contact.

  I suppose there's a life lesson there, too. Just because you start out fooled, doesn't mean you have to finish that way.

• With my brain still swirling from the various allergens the local foliage spewed into the air this weekend (I am now convinced, by the way, that tree pollen is composed of tiny bits of Nerf material, that then get lodged in one's sinuses to form the football you tossed around Thanksgiving morning - only now you're forced to breathe through it), I forgot to mention in yesterday's post how fun it was to watch the reaction of the guys on the bench as Pie returned to the dugout after his homer.

  Clearly, Felix was beside himself with excitement, but it was a real kick to see everyone else enjoying it nearly as much, showing great affection for a kid they all seem to like, and who they know is working his tail off under difficult circumstances to make himself a viable Major League hitter. I suppose it's just nice to see teammates rooting for each other as people.

• Ronny Cedeno - the most dangerous man in the Majors with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the eighth. Pitch to him at your peril!

• The funny thing is, after hitting a double and a grand slam and driving in five runs on the day, Ronny still left seven guys on base, which, frankly, is a good thing. Not because he left them there, but because they were there at all.

  Offense is all about creating opportunities, which is all about getting guys on base. Right now, the Cubs are doing that in spades, and as long as they keep it up, they'll convert enough of those chances to win. A lot.

• I didn't review the entire game, but in what I saw, Lilly did not look sharp. It wasn't the velocity (still a bit down) or the control (still a bit off), instead it was this feeling that the physical motions he was going through were harder than they should be. I have nothing beyond my own eyes to base that on, and I'm open to the idea that I've been compromised by all the talk about what's been missing from his work thus far, but even so, he seemed to me to be laboring more than I recall. Until I see something that contradicts that impression, I'm going to remain concerned.

It's off to Colorado this evening to face the re-reeling Rockies in another of these odd little ha'series. I don't like facing teams who've just come off a bad performance. Makes me think they're hungry for redemption. Makes me think they're due. If they are, here's hoping they start collecting sometime Friday.

It was a tight, tooth-grinder of a game for 51 outs, a real battle between pre-season division favorites vying for short-term bragging rights. In the end, the score belied how hard-fought this victory was, and does little justice to how satisfying the final result really was.

• That's yet another fine outing for Big Z, and what a pleasure it is to watch. For a guy who's always had issues with the free pass, seeing him finally able to control the ball and consistently establish his presence in the strike zone is nothing short of thrilling. Here's where we're at: assuming 33 starts, Zambrano's on pace to pitch 222.1 innings and issue a grand total of 33 walks. This from a man who let 101 men stroll to first in his 216.1 frames in 2007. Last year, among pitchers with at least 160 innings, his projected 2008 total would put him third in the Majors behind the 25/198.0 of Greg Maddux and the 28/192.1 of Paul Byrd.

  Even making the assumption that the above rates don't hold for an entire season, this is an astounding stretch of work for a pitcher with Z's track record. Were he to double his current walk rate, he'd still end up with roughly 61 passes on the year, which I'll guarantee any one of us would have taken the over on in Vegas. If we're truly seeing the emergence of this kind of work as the standard Zambrano performance, we may well see last year's hardware prediction come true, if a year late.

• Kosuke Fukudome is seeing 4.72 pitches per plate appearance, leading the majors by a substantial margin. The Cubs lead the National League with a .364 team OBP. If I'm asleep, I don't want to wake up.

• Anyone seen this before? The Cubs load the bases with no one out, only to see the next two hitters, guys they can normally count on, whiff and pop their way to infamy, and who's waiting in the wings as the final chance to capitalize on this golden opportunity, but whichever player on the roster at the time who might be considered the least likely to come through - we'll call him, Punchingbag McChokesalot.

  In this case, that man's real name was Ronny Cedeno, but the label above no longer seems to apply. Not only did he have a fantastic at bat last night - fouling off a series of pitches after he fell behind 1-2, until he finally got something he could take back up the middle for a game-changing, two-run single - of late he's been consistently having PAs just like it. I never thought I'd write these words, but Ronny Cedeno is becoming a valuable member of this team. He'll need to keep it up to remain as such, but for the first time I can remember, we've moved outside the realm of pipe-dream to real possibility.

• Speaking of goat-conversion, how about a hand for work-in-progress Felix Pie? Sure, the distance from the plate of the two pitches he took before his bomb would be better measured in feet than inches, and true, the ball he took over the wall was a yummier cookie than anything grandma could have dreamed of, but at this point, with the way he's been playing, the point is that he took the balls and drove the fat strike at all, not the relative ease of the feat. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

I don't know what to make of this afternoon's matchup. Ted Lilly was better last time out, but still has yet to put together an outing that even looks like last year's B-game. Nelson Figueroa looks like he's pitching over his head, but he's a great story, and has almost no history against these Cubs, with any of that taking place no earlier than the last time he was with a Major League club back in 2004. I'll just have to scratch my head and hope for the best.