6-run inning becomes Cubs own worst enemy

Derek Lee made his return off the bench as a pinch hitter Saturday and lead the Cubs to 11-6 victory after he slugged a grand slam. Well, I was dead wrong of questioning whether he'd be healthy enough to play. Off the field the first baseman is still dealing with his daughter's illness. Considering all that's going on with him he's hitting .394. Having a chance at the sweep on Sunday, the Cubs couldn't quite settle down with their starting pitching. Others Cub fans like the one on Crawley's Cub Kingdom believe the Cubs can build on this positive series. Check out other Cub blogs here.

Something definitely is bothering Zambrano because his outing Sunday as in recent starts was uncharacteristic of his true abilities. Going 6.2 innings he gave up 6 hits, 7 earned runs, and walked 4. The control isn't there because these walks are building up. Carlos says his mechanics aren't the problem, but it's uncertain as to what is causing the drop in consistent pitches in the strike zone. The fact that the lineup failed to score runs early didn't help him either.

The production mainly came from Aramis Ramirez who went 2-for-3 with a single and 3-run homer. Only 5 other hits were accounted for by everyone else. Daryl Ward has did a nice job off the bench in the Interleague series with a few timely hits to drive in runs. The Cubs need more of that from their bench. The Cubs were so close to having bragging rights against their cross town rivals...if they only could have swept the Sox! The Cubs go on the road for a short stint starting Tuesday as they'll see the Padres and Dodgers. Cub fans can hope to see improvement from the speedsters like Soriano on the base paths.