So after surviving some chili-induced vexations, I decided to fight fire with fire last night, steaming up a batch of shellfish for dinner. New Zealand cockles, a smallish type of clams, were on the menu, and my slightly-insane plan seems to have worked. Order has been restored to my kitchen, and a good night's sleep was had.

The Cubs didn't fare as well, unfortunately. They got whipped by a whipping boy, scoring only twice off of Jeff Weaver through eight innings. Sosa looked especially bad, striking out three times against Weaver. For his part, Jeff felt some consistency in his mechanics are helping:

"Just knowing my mechanics are set and I'm releasing the ball where I should, I'm confident throwing to both sides of the plate," said Weaver. "I'm back on top and getting the pitches down in the zone."

The big story, though, was Kerry Wood, and his departure from the game before the third inning. He felt some tightness in his tricep and didn't want to push it. Wood's removal is currently being characterized as more precautionary than anything else, but more should be learned today. A selection of quotes on the matter:

"They asked me how I was feeling, and I said it was kind of tight. That was it. We didn't want to take any chances. It wasn't something that was killing me and I couldn't throw. I felt my velocity was close to where it was."

-Kerry Wood

"I just didn't feel comfortable and didn't feel right. There are times when things don't feel right. I've had a surgery in the past. I'm not ready to do that again."
-Wood

"We asked him and he said it was just tight. (The Dodgers') doctor came over and analyzed him and said it was the tricep, and that's all we know. It's kind of a downer right now. We're thinking it's more precautionary than anything."
-Dusty Baker

"We're always concerned. The tricep starts in your shoulder and goes down to your elbow. We want to make sure we cover all our bases in the exam. Woody's strong, his shoulder is strong, his elbow is strong. He doesn't have any pain in either of those and that's a good thing. We have to wake up (Wednesday) and see how he feels. I'm sure he'll have some stiffness and soreness there."
-Cubs trainer Dave Groeschner

Needless to say, this was not a good start to the Dodgers series.