As many of you will know, I tend to be optimistic when it comes to the Cubs.  I like to keep the candle of hope burning even when other optimists like Chuck have at last given up the ghost.  But I'm not Al Yellon, either, and I must admit that when the Brew Crew retook the lead at the top of the division on Monday, I had my doubts as to whether the Cubs were still alive.  I wasn't quite ready to throw in the towel, but I was at least off my stool and a little nervous about Apollo's welfare.

And then the Cards came to town for the make-up game yesterday afternoon, and went home with their playoff hopes in tatters.  Tatters, I tell you.

And the Brewers went down with their pants round their ankles against Pissburgh.

And all was right with the World again.

I'll be honest, I didn't see it coming.  There was a poll in the Trib a few days ago, asking which of the Cubs' starting rotation you'd like to see on the mound for one game that decided the season.  Last time I checked, Ted Lilly had more than 60% of the votes, including mine.  Wait, I voted in a Trib poll?  I really need to get out more.

I don't think anybody really thought that Ted Lilly was going to be this good, though, but the truth is that he's been the Cubs ace this year, and it hasn't even been particularly close.  On his day, Carlos is the best pitcher in the National League, but to say that he's flaky would be like saying that Jason Kendall likes coats made from human skin - something of an understatement.  Lilly is the guy who has stepped up when the Cubs really needed a win, and with that in mind, I was cautiously optimistic about the Cubs' chances yesterday.  That, and the fact that Joel "Firestarter" Pineiro was on the mound for the Cards.

But never in a million years did I foresee the Cubs teeing off in the way that they did, or the Brewers going down 9-0 in the Steel City.  For those of you who missed it (for shame), Aramis had two homers and two doubles to raise his SLG by about four hundred points.  DLee was a triple short of the cycle.  Jones doubled and had three hits.  And even Theodore Roosevelt Lilly had his first ever extra base hit to drive in a run.  He then spent the next three minutes (even though it seemed like fifteen) getting well and truly inside Andy Cavasos' head from second base.  Bravo, maestro.

The Brewers?  Well they got five decent innings out of Carlos Villanueva, but then the increasingly-shaky bullpen gave up six runs in four innings and fifty-six pitches to make the rest of the series against the suddenly-respectable Pirates just that little bit more uncomfortable.  And when I say more uncomfortable, I mean like vinegar-on-your-piles uncomfortable.  If I'm Ned Yost, I'm a worried man right now - not least because tonight's starter, Gallardo, has given up 25 runs in 24.3 innings over his last five starts.  Ouch,

And the Cards?  Well, the Cards had their chance.  It was last night, and they blew it.  They're done, forget about them.  No, seriously, forget about them.  Assume for a moment that the Cubs or the Brewers manage to go 10-9 to finish the season - which is eminently possible bearing in mind who they have to play.  If only one of them manages that, the Cards have to go 15-6 to win the NL Central.  15-6, ladies and gentlemen, and this from a team that has lost its last four games.  If Yellon were a Cards fan, I think even he'd have given up by now.  They're done, dusted and nothing gives me greater pleasure than to be able to say that.  Screw you, St. Lou.  I'll take the Cubs to win this weekend's four games in Missouri at a canter.

So, there you go.  From zeroes to heroes in the space of nine innings.  Next up, the Astros for three in Houston.  The Astros seem like they've been a right royal pain in the arse this year but the Cubs are actually 6-6 against them, although with less success in Minute Maid park.  Houston isn't a good team, though (62-81, good for last in the division) so I'm looking for Lady Luck to smile on the Cubs and for them to get their Pythagorean just desserts.

Make no mistake, mind you - whatever happens in Houston and Pissburgh tonight, this is going down to the wire.  At least, though, the Cubs seem to have remembered what their bats are for, and that might just take them far enough over the next three weeks.  If it does, I think we'll look back at yesterday's game as the turning point, and who better to have helped out than Tony LaRussa and the boys in red?  Go Cubs.