Cubs grab series from Reds with 3-2 win, Zambrano goes yard

Luckily for the Cubs their ace can provide quite the pick-me up offensively on occasion. Last night was one of those times. Already with a 2-0 advantage in the 3rd inning Carlos Zambrano steps up to the plate and crushes a fastball off Josh Fogg into the right field bleachers. What a power display, serving as the game-winning hit! It's his 4th homerun of the season as Big Z leads in that category among active pitchers with 16 career dingers. The 3 runs proved to be all Zambrano needed as he went 7 innings to give up 6 hits, 1 earned run with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. Mark DeRosa spanked his 15th homerun to aid the offense. The defense also came through in the game and took care of a few pesky ground balls.

I'm content with the Game 3 outcome, but not so much with the middle game of this series. Ted Lilly had that game wrapped up and deserved to get the win. It just didn't happen which robbed him out of his 13th win. Right now Dempster leads the rotation with an impressive 14-5 record with a 2.92 ERA followed by Zambrano who's now 13-5 (3.29) and doing everything possible to help the Cubs win. Kerry Wood has come back with a little flourish, sealing up his 26th save yesterday. Many people feel the weekend series with the Nationals at Wrigley Field will be a piece of cake. The Cubs lineup still needs to work on scoring early and being consistent with runners in scoring position. That is one area being overlooked, but not by Lou Piniella I know.

Taking a glance at the standings since the Brewers and Cardinals had a day off the Cubs have stretched their lead to 5 and a half games. They have an opportunity to extend it to 7 or 8 with a sweep. I'm sure the Chicago faithful when be ready to bring out the brooms. I think their presence on the road has irritated too many other NL teams especially with the premature rendition of "Go Cubs Go." That's cool and all, but the Cubs just want to play it low-key and concentrate one game at a time. With Jason Marquis (8-7) starting the series today with Dempster probable for Game 2 the fans will be amped up for a exciting weekend at Wrigley.