D Lee seems to have found his stroke again, going 2 for 4 today with and rbi that proved to be the game winner on a two out double off the ivy in left to score T Walker from first in the bottom of the 7th making the score 2-0.

M Barrett continues to stay HOT with the stick. Barrett went 3 for 4 today with 2 doubles, a home run and an rbi. Barrett's avg. is now .286 with 13 homers and he's 3 home runs from tying his career high set last year.

N Perez was 2 for 3 today with a walk and rbi, knocking in Barrett with the games first run in the 2nd after a 2 out Barrett double.

Notables: Lawton, 2 for 5. A Ramirez, 1 for 3 w/1 rbi.

Zambano was absolutley brilliant against the cards once again. Going 6 innings, giving up 0 runs on 6 hits. "Z" has now thrown 23 2/3's innings against the cards this year and yielded only 2 earned runs!

Cubs win, Cubs win, Cubs win! The Cubs defeat the St Louis Cardinals today at Wrigley Field 4-1. We have now beaten the Cards in 4 straight and lead the season series 5-2. I can't believe the enigma this team is. Where is this type of ball during the 8 game losing streak? Either one if your asking yourself which 8 game losing steak? These last two days the Cubs have showed the talent they have in beating the NL's best team in both a slugfest and a grind it out nail biter, where home runs actually didn't determine the outcome. Instead the outcome was decided by some timely clutch hitting, although there was still plenty of a lack of clutch hitting and many more runs were left on the board, it still showed this team has not quit in my opinion. And thats what makes this team so dangerous, they have the arms and the sticks to beat anybody on any given day. The problem is, they don't seam to bring the same intensity or heart with them to the ballpark each and every day. Is this just because of the rivalry with the Cards, or have they really turned the corner......once again? We'll see how the next 5 games go, with 2 more against the cards and then off to houston for 3. Those should be competitive games because of the rivalry hype. After that, we play Colorado and with no incentive, lets see if they bring the same heart and intensity to the ball park. All in all today was a wonderfuly played game. Great pitching, timely hitting and good defense. Go cubbiesssssssss!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, my title rhymed! Maybe im in the wrong business. In fact, maybe, just maybe i should be managing the Cubs. Im sure i could lead a roster full of talent to an under .500 record.

Tonights game was another sad display of MLB by the Cubs. It all started with an error by Ramirez allowing Beltran to reach safely with 2 outs in the first. That was followed by a single from C Floyd, scoring Beltran. Yep, that's rite. Beltran scored from first on a single. Granted he was running on the 3-2 pitch, however Macias (Why? Why? Why?) lolly gagged over to get the ball, then turned and fired missing the cut off man and throwing the ball wild and wide of the plate. This also allowed Floyd to move up on the throw, thus allowing him to score on a single to left. What should have been zero runs, but at worst 1 run, turned into 2! Rite then and there i knew this game was over.

Well after another let down, the Cubs now find themselves 5.5 games behind Houston for the Wild Card. Not to mention the other 4 teams ahead of the Cubs in the WC standings. Hey atleast the offense scored 4 runs, rite? That has got to be a bonus, that's almost 2 games worth. Anyway, considering how the Cubs are such an enigma and Houston is on such a roll, i really don't see the Cubs leap frogging 5 teams to win the WC. They just simply don't show any kind of urgency or consistency to make me believe they have a run left in them. Therefore, i really am just to dissapointed at this point to think of anything but next year. That is why i have decided to put together my opinion of what the '06 Cubs should look like...

Catcher - '05 Barret ------> '06 Barret (Under contract and not sure how many takers. May get position by default)

"It's something that I heard didn't go on much here before. That was one of the things that upset Sammy (Sosa) when he was here. One of the things he was upset with me about was that I didn't stop them from booing him. I don't know how I was going to do that." -- Cubs manager Dusty Baker on Wrigley Field fans booing their own players.

Maybe Baker should be less concerned about the booing and more about getting his team to play up to par, which in turn will stop the booing.

Check out my other blog writings at http://www.cubbynation.com/pmblog/weblog.... Where i'm looking for blog writers, etc... for my new site.

"You're taught to run at him every time," Barrett said. "I panicked and threw the ball. I looked up and saw Rollins breaking and I threw the ball." Panicked? Panicked? We're talking about Panicked people! Don't know if i was a major leaguer, that i would let everyone know i "Panicked"! How bout you? ;)

The Cubs go off and lose a game like they have lost no other. I swear with this team, its always something different every game. They invent new ways to lose. Once again an enemic offense and some very questionable fundamental baseball has cost the cubs yet another game.

Hey everybody, let me introduce myself as Gator. I'm a diehard cub fan and have been for as long as i can remember understanding baseball, so im guessing about 30 years or so. I've started up my own diehard cubby fan site/blog located at CubbyNation.com or go directly to http://www.cubbynation.com/pmblog/weblog.... I will be writing cross blogs for both my site and here at cubsnet so stop by and check out the site and let me know your opinion.

Thanks
Gator

Although i was about to have another heart attack, puke, etc... the cubbies did pull one out of there rear tonight. If was the first time all year that Dempster has looked this off. The offense is still to non existent for me to really believe that a WC run could be in the cards. The fortunate thing is that we have 10 games left with the Astros including the last four games of the season in Houston. So in a way, we may end up controlling our own destiny in the seasons last weekend. As for tonights game, i am still wondering if something was wrong with Z and if not, why was he pulled after 8 and throwing a mere 104 pitches. On the norm he is allowed to throw 130 just to complete 7! Just another odd move by Dusty. All though to Dusty's credit, he didn't throw the 16 balls to 4 straight batters in the ninth. I do question a few moves in tonights game however: