I didn't really get to blog about yesterday's game, which means that you were saved from having to read my frustration about the 8 hits and 7 walks that the Cubs failed to capitalize upon.  Not that you would have gotten a lot of bile from me, as it would have been half-hearted at best.  It's really very hard to be angry at this Cubs team, short of them running over my pet cats - and even then, I'd be more annoyed than anything.

Today's game provided plenty of reasons to feel joy.  The Cubs, down 2-0 in the 7th, uncorked the bats* and in Anti-'03 Fashion, blew the lid off of Dolphins Stadium for 8 runs.  The coolest thing was that they did it without homeruns - Soriano doubled in 2, Ramirez doubled in 2 more, Fukudome - who seems to be bouncing back and forth between his white bat and a black one - sac flied a run in (plus he made a stellar defensive grab early in the game), and Reed Johnson capped off the inning with the third double of that frame, this time for 3 more RBI.   

(*perhaps a bad pun for a team that once employed Sammy Sosa) 

Reed is now batting .314 as a Cub.  Like Edmonds, Reed Johnson was a late acquisition by Jim Hendry, plucked from the scrap heap, who has turned into an invaluable member of the Cubs.  If on April 1st you told me I would later say "I don't want to think about where the Cubs would be without Reed Johnson and Jim Edmonds," I would have thought you were yanking my crank, which sounds particularly dirty.  Moving on.

Ryan Dempster pitched 6 strong today.  He left after 96 pitches, after having allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 earned runs.  Oh, and he struck out 10.  Clownsevelt is now 14-6.  Never in a million years would I have expected this kind of production from him.  We could make an argument that Dempster is the Cubs MVP this year, but the reality of it is that he'd be fighting with a crowd of players for that distinction.  From Dempster, to DeRosa, to Soto, to the Fonz, the Cubs have had a number of players step up and do big things.

Oh, by the way, without much fanfare, Carlos Marmol has now gone 10.1 innings in a row without surrendering a hit, and his scoreless streak is up to 15 straight.  Maybe he also should be included in the field of potential MVPs, and, retrospectively, he flat-out absolutely belonged at the All Star Game.  

Series Recap: 

I hate the Fish.  Perhaps more than any other team in baseball, I hate the Florida Marlins.  I don't even hate the White Sox or the Cardinals, but after the 2003 NLCS, there is a vile spot in my stomach that belongs to that ragtag bunch of losers who can't even afford to keep a solitary good player who's eligible for arbitration.  

Therefore, you can probably understand how satisfying it feels to see the Cubs travel down to the hole that is Dolphins Stadium and walk all over the Marlins.   Sure, 2 games were close, but the Cubs now leave the putrid state of Florida with 2 wins in 3 tries (pretending the Rays never happened), and I feel slightly less nervous about the prospects of the Marlins storming the weak NL East and sneaking into the playoffs.

The Cubs, by the way, are now 76-48.  28 games over .500.  They have a 31-31 record on the road.  And they are back in Chicago on Tuesday, hosting the lowly, bottom-feeding Reds.  They've already got 11 wins this month, with 13 remaining it does not seem out of the question that the Cubs might exit August with 20 wins in total.  Best yet, on July 17th, the Cubs were 57-39.  Since that time, they've gone 19-9.  They are piling on wins, and somewhere, a Brewers fan is weeping, while a Cardinals fan is at this point too numb to feel.

Current Record: 76-48
Position in the NL Central: 1st place, 5.5 games in front of Milwaukee and 7.5 ahead of St. Louis
Best Possible Record: 114-48
Worst Possible Record: 76-86
On Pace For: 99-63
Magic Number: 34, as powered by CubsMagicNumber.com

Multiple recaps are coming.

I just wanted to take a brief moment to say that I continue to hate the pesky Marlins, who have made it their business to be tough on the Cubs.  Rich Harden continues to be everything we wanted, but he's been a hard luck loser.

That is all. 

I've come to realize in recent months just how much I hate the Marlins.  I suppose that a similar hatred is felt toward the Padres by Cub fans of a certain generation.

For that reason, I'm always somewhat nervous when the Cubs play Florida.  The Marlins have had a nasty tendency to beat Chicago as of late, and to sometimes beat them badly, but last night was an exception to that new rule.  

The Alfonso Soriano led-off offense scored 6 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks.  Soriano himself went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk, although I remain unconvinced that he's going to be slump free upon his return.  The Cubs also had 2 homeruns, both from unlikely players - Ronny Cedeno and Henry Blanco.   Aramis Ramirez is trying hard to best out of his clueless slump by going 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI.  Oh, and Carlos Zambrano went 1 for 2 with a double.  He's batting .356 on the season and I will shortly have to break out the Zambino photoshop again.

Speaking of the Big Moose, Carlos went 7 innings, giving up 6 hits, walking 0, and striking out 6.  His shoulder concerns appear to be a thing of the past, as he was allowed to throw an absurd 125 pitches.  

Most important on the pitching front was Carlos Marmol, who came into the game in the 8th inning with 2 men on and 2 outs and struck out Willingham to escape the danger.  He then decided that he liked the danger, and in Rod Beck fashion he came back in the 9th and walked the bases loaded before striking out Wes Helms to end the game.  The difference is that when Beck would allow 3 men to get on base in the 9th, he'd look as though he was bored with it while he calmly struck out the last batter to end the game.  When Marmol does it, he looks like he's on the brink of soiling himself, or at the very least, of vomiting.

That evokes the question - What does Carlos Marmol need in order to handle closing?  The answer: it Depends.  

"It Depends," get it?  It's a pune, or play on words. Y'know, because Depends is the brand name for adult diapers.  Pretty funny, right?  Anybody?  Anybody laughing at all?   No?  Crap.