Cubs-Diamondbacks: Revenge is Sweep
Pretty predictable headline, eh? The Cubs didn't quite get revenge on the Diamondbacks for last fall's playoff debacle by sweeping Arizona at Wrigley this weekend, but nevertheless it feels pretty good to sweep the team with the best record in the NL. The bats are heating up again and all that's left to be concerned with is the pitching. Well, and Felix Pie.
The Cubs don't need Pie to be productive in order to win the division, but it sure would help. They only have four real outfielders right now, unless you count Ward (and I don't) and supersub DeRosa. The club could really use a lefthander to spell Reed Johnson in Center and its just a shame that Pie can't hold his own with the bat. He just looks lost up there, for the most part. Did you see his splits when there are two strikes on him (which is just about always)? He's hitting something like .048. Horrible. Oh well, maybe it'll click for him next season like it has for ONEDEC this year. (ONEDEC being Ronny Cedeno, who really seems to have turned things around. Tip of the cap: BCB)
As for the pitching, it looked awfully good this weekend. Dempster cruised through five before stumbling a bit in the 6th. Lilly is totally back on track and I might go as far as saying he's a "quality #3 in the NL" again. And Gallagher didn't embarrass himself today before running out of gas in the 5th. He probably didn't do enough to earn another immediate shot in the rotation, but he should definitely be considered after Marquis takes his last gasps. Other than Chad Fox, the bullpen was damn near flawless. My only complaint is when Marmol trotted in to pitch the 9th on Saturday. Dude can't pitch every day, and 5-run leads are made for guys like Wuertz and Howry. Oh well. He was flawless (all three days) and he didn't throw too many pitches so I'm not exactly going to lose any sleep.
I also should add that Wood has looked really good in his last few outings. I don't want to jinx anything, actually, I'll just leave it at that.
Big four-game series against San Diego. I didn't mind Z getting bumped today because the Arizona series was already won and I figured Gallagher had as good a chance as Arizona's scrub at winning today, so you might as well not risk the elements and all the potential stop/starts and save him for the Padres. I was hoping that Piniella would then use the opportunity to skip Marquis again, but it looks like he's still on the docket for Tuesday (against Shawn Freaking Estes of all people!) Might actually win that one. With Peavy vs. Lieber on Wednesday, I'll settle for 3 of 4 versus the Pods.
Go Cubs!