Cubs make mince meat out of Nationals, win series

Wrigleyville is filled with glee, continuing to be the historic venue where the Cubs play their best baseball. This weekend was no different. I have to admit Friday's game was the pits yet the Cubs shrugged the aftermath off like it never happened. They didn't let it effect the series' finale as Rich Harden brought out the cheese and gave the Nationals the whiff! Really the young starter is incredible!

With the players coming back from injuries, the trades made this year, and prospects coming up from Triple-A I truly believe Harden has made the biggest impact on the Cubs' success in the second half. Plus so many guys have made solid contributions to lead the Cubs to victories. Although this sounds superstitious, but Sunday having actor John Cusack ( a big Cubs fan) sing the 7th-inning stretch emitting positive energy kinda rubbed off on the Cubs' lineup. They scored 3 runs in the inning.
Another great sign was in that 7th inning as a pinch-hitter Kosuke Fukudome cranked a 2-run homer into the right-field bleachers. The hottest player right now is Mark DeRosa who has hit a homerun in 4 consecutive games with 7 total hits. Geovany Soto is beginning to break out of a drought at the plate as he lifted a 2-run shot into the seats in the 2nd inning. That makes 19 homeruns for him. The Cubs will need his bat down the stretch. After receiving a few runs Rich Harden was lights out. He moves his record to 4-1. Here is his stat line:

7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K's, 1 HR

With the win yesterday at Wrigley the Cubs are the first team in the Majors to reach 80 wins. With reaching that mark too many people already think the Cubs are locked in for the postseason and will capture the division title. This is too early still to make such a prediction. The Brewers also keep winning and won't relinquish much ground in the NL Central. As a result Chicago can't get comfortable yet until they get about 15 more wins under their belt. Starting this week the Cubs face the Pirates and Phillies for 7 games. Ted Lilly (12-7) will work to refine another start against Jeff Karstens (2-2). The Cubs want to enact retribution from their last meeting with Pittsburgh. Go Cubs!