There's a running gag over on the Desipio forum about Alfonso Soriano, primarily about how selfish he is.  Take his performance two games ago.  He selfishly hit two homeruns, including one with two men on base.  It was obvious at the time that, as a leadoff hitter, it should have been Soriano's duty to bunt over those players for the big bats in the lineup.

Yesterday was another exercise in selfishness.  Alfonso went 5 for 5, raising his seasonal batting average to .295, while hitting 2 more homeruns and a double.  He drove in 3 of the Cubs 6 runs and scored 3 as well.  In other words, Alfonso is on fire right now.  This makes him the opposite of Lee, Ramirez, and Fukudome, who have gotten together and conspired to go into a slump together.  You wouldn't be able to tell based on the team's recent play, but in the past five games, the heart of the Cubs lineup has gone 11 for 57 with 4 walks and 4 RBI.  That's a .192 AVG for those of you who aren't mathematically inclined, and those numbers are even worse when you consider that all 11 hits were obtained by those guys in 2 of the 5 games.

And yet, as a team, the Cubs are winning more than they are losing.  Hey, does anybody know how common it is for a team to not only win but win big while their three biggest bats slump?  

Alfonso was not alone in contributing yesterday.  As a team, the Cubs got 11 hits and 5 RBI.  Although Carlos had his worst outing of the season - throwing 4 innings and being chased in the 5th after having allowed the first five men he faced to get on base - the Cubs were able to equalize the score in the 7th. However, Carlos Marmol proved at long last to be human, as he served up a 2-run homer in the 9th which made the difference.

It was bound to happen.  The Cubs were bound to end their winning streak against the Pirates, and both Carloses were bound to have rough outings as well.  It's a testament to the Cubs as to how hard they made it for Pittsburgh to get the win.

Regardless, even though the Pirates are playing close to .500 right now, doesn't it seem as though they would prefer to be playing in Chicago?  I saw a strange scene at the game yesterday.  A Pirates player looked as if he was begging Lou Piniella to allow him to become a Cub.  It was unusual. Just walk away, Lou.  We don't want him.