In a game where the Cubs broke an 8-game losing streak against the best team in the NL, Jose Macias and Neifi Perez were both effective in the top two spots in the linep, and Corey Patterson did not strike out, easily the most surprising thing was that Greg Maddux threw a complete game.

As complete games go, this one was rather comical. He gave up 12 hits and 4 runs, so it's not exactly a gem. And he threw 114 pitches, the most he's thrown since who knows when - at least as far back as 2001, perhaps longer. And all this in a 11-4 blowout win.

Maybe everyone in the entire bullpen was sick and couldn't pitch, maybe Dusty figured that Maddux has avoided the arm-shredder for long enough, or maybe Greg's psychic ominously told him this was his last game, so make the most of it. At any rate, the notoriously six-inning-and-out Maddux went the distance in a blowout on a day that he wasn't all that sharp, but for now, I'll just marvel that he gave up 12 hits and 4 runs, while still only throwing 114 pitches. Perhaps such efficiency isn't unheard of in baseball, but it is on this club.

So, my hat's off to him. It'll be interesting to see how his next start goes, provided, of course, that the psychic was wrong.