So the switch to Brian Griese didn't prove to be successful, though it doesn't help that half the defense is injured. Griese gave the Bears just 5.5 yards per attempt and 3 interceptions. At what point do we forget how bad Kyle Orton was in 2005 and give him another chance?

The Bears are now 3 games behind the undefeated Packers.

Rich Lederer of Baseball Analysts lists Carlos Marmol among his players who "have been among the most valuable players on their respective teams while earning at or near the minimum salary."

After Trevor Hoffman struck out the side in the 9th inning of the San Diego Padres' 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers tonight, radio play-by-play man Bob Uecker went to break with, "This one is over."

When the Brewers defeated the Chicago Cubs on June 30, they moved to 7.5 games ahead of the Cubs, the second place team. With the Cubs' 6-0 win tonight over the Cincinnati Reds and the Brewers' loss, the Cubs have clinched the NL Central divisional crown with two games to spare. It is not exactly a 1969 Cubs-style collapse for the Brewers, or even a 2007 Mets-style collapse, but it is a collapse. The Cubs needed help after their slow start and they got it when Milwaukee went 20-34 in July and August.

Carlos Zambrano came up huge tonight, throwing 7 shutout innings. He moved his season record to 18-13 and he is lined up to start Game 1 of the NLDS. Zambrano had decisions in 31 of his 34 starts this season. Zambrano's 31 decisions are the most by a Cubs' pitcher since Greg Maddux went 20-11 in 1992.

Alfonso Soriano also had a big game, leading it off with a home run, doubling, and throwing (another) runner out at the plate. The Cubs have not had a strong-armed outfielder with as an accurate an arm as Soriano since Andre Dawson.

Either Chip Caray or Steve Stone may be broadcasting the Cubs' playoff series.

Here's the plan: get swept by the worst team in the National League, but only lose one game to the Brewers because Milwaukee is going to go make five errors in one game anyway.

Thankfully, there are just three games left. The Cubs need to win just one, or have the Brewers lose just one, to assure themselves of a tie for the division. And they have their three best pitchers lined up for the Cincinnati Reds: Zambrano, Hill, and then Lilly on Sunday, if needed. The Reds, meanwhile, will give the Cubs two of their best, with Bronson Arroyo on Friday and Aaron Harang on Saturday. It would be best if the Cubs just won on Friday and Saturday and concluded the matter.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of Steve Trachsel has been a disaster. If it is any consolation (it's not), Rocky Cherry has been even worse for the Baltimore Orioles.

Speaking of the Orioles, they are 68-91 on the year. They have given 813 plate appearances to Corey Patterson, Paul Bako, Freddie Bynum, and Scott Moore and 199 innings pitched to Trachsel, Jon Leicester, Cherry, and Scott Williamson. Glad to see the Cubs could be of service.

That's what the Florida Marlins are saying right now about the Chicago Cubs. With tonight's 7-4 victory over the Cubs (video highlights), the Marlins moved to 5-0 on the season against the Cubs. Dating back to last season, the Marlins have won nine straight. The Marlins even got Carlos Marmol to do something he hadn't done in over 23 innings: give up a run. Marmol gave up a two-run home run to Miguel Cabrera to put the Marlins up by the final margin. (Side note: Marmol has now allowed just three home runs in 68.1 innings this season after allowing fourteen in 77 innings last year, mostly as a starter.)

Jason Marquis had his second straight bad outing, allowing five runs, four earned in five innings on nine hits and two walks. It wasn't all his fault: a likely double play in the Marlins' 3-run 3rd inning was thrown away by Mark DeRosa. Had the double-play been turned, none of those runs would have scored.

Thankfully, the St. Louis Cardinals came through in a big way tonight, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 7-4. The Cubs stay two games up with four to play. The Brewers begin their series with the San Diego Padres tomorrow. The Padres remain in the thick of tight NL West and Wild Card races. Unfortunately, Jake Peavy is pitching tonight, so the Brewers will miss him. Unless they really need to win on Sunday, in which case it's hard to imaginez them throwing Brett Tomko over Peavy on short rest.

Cubs lose, Brewers win, leaving us with this with 5 games to go:

Team       W      L       Pct.      GB
Cubs      83      74      .529      --
Brewers   81      76      .516      2

The Cubs fell victim to their one-time farm-hand, Dontrelle Willis. The Cubs managed to get just 2 hits off of Willis in his 8 innings. Willis came into tonight's game having allowed 236 hits in 194.2 innings. He's had a better year at the plate (109 OPS+) than on the mound. Nevertheless, two of his ten wins have come in his two starts against the Cubs.

Meanwhile, 1500 miles to the north, Milwaukee blew out St. Louis. In the first two games of their four game series, the Brewers have outscored the Cardinals 22-6. And they did it against the Cardinals' two winningest pitchers, Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper.

Tomorrow, the Cubs have Jason Marquis going against rookie Daniel Barone. Barone has not pitched more than 5.2 innings in his 5 starts this season. His last start came on September 19, when he allowed 4 runs in 4.1 innings against Atlanta.

In Milwaukee, the Cardinals will throw Joel Pineiro against Carlos Villenueva. Villenueva has allowed just 4 runs in 24 innings since being inserted into the starting rotation on September 4.

UPDATE (9/26/07 4:40pm): It appears the Cardinals will throw Brad Thompson instead of Pineiro tonight.

Less important than Brian Griese supplanting Rex Grossman at quarterback, in my estimation, is this news: "Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris is expected to miss the team's game Sunday at Detroit and could miss up to a month with a sprained knee, his agent told the Chicago Tribune."

The Bears, as well as their NFC Championship Game foes, the New Orleans Saints, are in trouble.

Fascinating article in ESPN's website on the people lining up for Cubs ownership bids. Tom Mandler is mentioned prominently. He is a long time fan and is trying to organize a group that will have enough money to keep out the out of towners.

See: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3029964

With the Cubs up by a 1.5 games over Milwaukee with just over a week to play, here is Sam Fuld helping preserve a four-run lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 22.

Of all the Cubs' players having big Septembers, Matt Murton's has probably been the quietest. Yet, since I wrote that Murton was continuing to have a disappointing season on August 23, Murton is hitting .428/.478/.652 in 16 games after today's 3-for-4 with 2 doubles performance. The Cubs have been seeing more lefthanded pitchers, Piniella has put Murton in opportunities to succeed, and Murton is delivering in a big way. I believe the Cubs' refusal to trade him earlier this year after his demotion will pay long-term dividends.

One of the great moments in Cubs' broadcasting history: Bill Murray fills in for Harry Caray on April 17, 2007, as the Montreal Expos visit Wrigley Field.

http://tinyurl.com/2xfoqr

. . . at least tonight. After he defeated the Milwaukee Brewers by throwing 5.2 innings of 1-run ball in his first career start and first big league action since he pitched out of Milwaukee's bullpen in 2004. Bennett's performance did not come out of left field: He had a 1.04 ERA in the three postseason starts he made for triple-A Richmond. The Brewers move to a game-and-a-half behind the Cubs.

The Cubs named Geovany Soto their 2007 minor league player of the year. Soto, 24, hit .353/.424/.652 for triple-A Iowa this season.