Big innings win games, and the Cubs had a big inning in a big game last night.

Rich Hill was, for the most part, excellent, striking out nine and walking none in seven innings. Two of the three runs he allowed came on Corey Hart's bloop single to center. Hill has been the Cubs' best starting pitcher since the All-Star Break.

Alfonso Soriano returned and did nothing at the plate and looked hesitant in the field. Still, I feel better with him in the lineup.

Less than two months ago, Jacque Jones was on his way to Miami. In the unlikliest of turnarounds, he is on pace to being one of the heroes of the season. Going into last night, Jones had hit .326/.372/.479 since Lou Piniella reinserted him into the starting lineup on July 13. He has also played good defense all year, which is especially important given that he has been next to Cliff Floyd many times. See Cub Town for more on Jones.

The fielding error by Scott Linebrink on Ryan Theriot's high chopper to the mound during the fateful 7th inning last night was interesting for one particular reason: it was actually scored an error rather than a hit. That was the correct call; Linebrink should have fielded the ball (though Ron Santo disagreed with me). But Linebrink did have to make a small jump for it and, in today's baseball world, most scorekeepers call anything a hit where the fielder has to make more than a minimal amount of movement. It is one reason why fielding percentage statistics need to be taken for no more than they are worth, which is not much.

With the Cubs' win over the Brewers, and the Cardinals' win over the Astros, the Cardinals now sit in second place. I told you I was worried about them. 1060west is worried, too. ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski tries to sort out the NL Central. He also notes something cool that the fans did last night:

This series matters a little bit more because the Brewers and Cubs don't face each other after Thursday night's game. It matters enough that Cubs fans booed longtime Brewers announcer Bob Uecker as he led the crowd in singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. Then they did something I've never seen from a Wrigley crowd: They sang it again, as if Uecker's version was infected. Even Uecker had to be impressed by the passion.

I had been listening to the game on MLB.com's Gameday Audio. During commercial breaks, you do not hear commercials; you can generally only hear what is said over the PA system at the stadium. But last night, you could hear the crowd sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" again. I wondered what was going on. That story is great.

Listening to the game on Gameday Audio also has the added benefit of hearing the fans sing "Go Cubs Go" after a home win.

Here are the highlights from last night, courtesty of ESPN: