Prior paves the way for victory

Thanks to the sure handed pitching of Mark Prior Friday afternoon at Coors Field the Cubs win their 3rd straight game. Trying to ignite a winning streak is one goal of the Cubs and the other is staying close in the wild card race. With 40 games left it may come down to the final week with 5 or 6 teams fighting for the playoff spot. Mark Prior (9-4) had one of his better pitching performances in the seoond half of the season, striking out 10 while rendering 2 runs as he obtained the win. Kerry Wood came on in relief again and pitched a scoreless 8th inning. His control is looking good so far. With him throwing 90-97 miles an hour with his fastball and getting batters out he may be a key factor in the Cubs final outcome for the season.

The quest for the wild card isn't getting any easier. With the Marlins, Phillies,Astros, and Mets playing better in August the tension is tightening in the National League. After finishing out the 3 game series in Colorado, the Cubs will return home to play the Braves, Marlins, and Dodgers. They should be weary of a guy named Jeff Francoeur who's on a tear of late, fueling the Braves offense with Andruw Jones and be able to contend with the hot pitching of the Marlins' Dontrelle Willis if they face him. (Hopefully they can avoid seeing him in the rotation this time). It's weird how the Cubs were able to win 2 of 3 from the Astros and the Cardinals, but get sweeped a few weeks ago by the Reds and the Mets. Faltering by losing too many games in a long streak will do them in for sure. Avoiding the most humiliating record the Royals hold of losing 18 games in a row is in their best interest. For once though when the Cubs make obvious horrendous mistakes and players display poor performances I'd like to see the broadcasters on the major television networks get fired up, expressing their anger, call them on their flaws, and use constructive criticism. This will get out of their usual routine of pretending it's no big deal with a team is getting clobbered or is on the verge of collasping. It'll make the baseball experience for fans watching at home or may be even motivate the players to play with more intensity.