If Jason Marquis is a blind squirrel, then shutting out the Pirates is a nut he found. I guess it was bound to happen. Marquis went 7 strong innings, throwing 95 pitches, striking out 3 while walking 0 and surrendering 5 hits. However, in a turn of pure irony, while Marquis battened down the hatches and held the Pirates scoreless, the Cubs offense floundered and managed to only score 2, one from unlikely hero Ronny Cedeno, and the other from a sacrifice bunt by Henry Blanco.

The Cubs offense actually accounted for 7 hits - including doubles by Soriano, Theriot, and DeRosa - and 2 walks, but for the most part they just couldn't finish what they started. Fortunately, it turns out that the Cubs don't always need to score 12 or more runs in a game to win.

For me, perhaps the funniest part of the game is how, in 2 innings pitched, Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol combined to strike out more Pirates than Marquis managed in 7. Not that Lou had it planned that way, but maybe it actually works out to the team's benefit to replace a soft throwing righty with two flame-throwers who derive pleasure from throwing pitches with ungodly break to them. Regardless, the Cubs won again, and when they eventually lay claim to the NL Central Championship, while their thank you speech should have 10 minutes dedicated to the Pirates, let the detractors remember that the Brewers played Pittsburgh just as often.

Series Recap: Another road series sweep. Just two months ago, the Cubs were a team with a glaring weakness - they could not regularly win on the road. However, after having gone 13-1 in their last 14 road games, the Cubs now have one of the best road records in baseball to help compliment their overall standing as - wait for it - The Best Team in The Game. Chicago is now 34-31 away from home. Similarly, the Phillies share that road record, the Brewers are 36-31, the Angels top all of baseball with 40 wins and 25 losses, and the Cardinals are actually 37-29. Maybe it's no coincidence that the Cubs have turned things around after releasing Scott Eyre, who was apparently depleting his teammates of energy by eating his - and their - share at all the pre-game buffets.

Before this month started, I predicted that they should win 17. They have; in fact, the Cubs have now won 18 this month. I also said that they could win 20 if all the cards fell the right way. At this point, 20 wins seems very likely. Some people are going to look to this upcoming 4-game set against the Phillies as a Series With Implications. I'm not so severe in my way of thinking, but it certainly would be nice if the Cubs could step on the Phillies's throats for 4 games and make it clear to them that they won't have what it takes come October.

Current Record: 83-50
Position in the NL Central: 1st place, 5.5 games in front of Milwaukee and 10 ahead of St. Louis
Best Possible Record: 112-50
Worst Possible Record: 83-79
On Pace For: 101-61
Magic Number: 25, as powered by CubsMagicNumber.com

If there's such a thing as jinxes, then I am responsible for the Carlos Zambrano implosion tonight. Earlier in the day on Jon Miller's show, I predicted that Carlos was going to dominate the toothless Pirates tonight.

Yeah, whoops.

Apparently Carlos decided that the best way to spend the first inning was by trying to throw the ball through Geovany Soto's chest. Consequently, he was wild. However, after a rough 3-run, nearly 30-pitch first inning, the Moose buckled down and I doubt many people were surprised when the Cubs took the lead in the 4th after Geovany Soto drove in 3 runs with a bases-clearing double, followed by Carlos himself continuing his hitting and RBI streak by knocking home his catcher.

Then, it became a dogfight. The Cubs scored their 4, but the Pirates responded by scoring 1. The Cubs scored another with a DeRosa double, the Pirates retaliated with a 2-run 5th that chased Carlos. The Cubs scored another in the 6th thanks to a Geovany Soto solo homerun, and then the Pirates scored 2 more to claim an 8-7 lead.

Then, in the 8th inning, the Cubs busted out their slugging implements* and rang up the Pirates for 7. Mike Fontenot led off the inning with a single, promoting the Pirates to fatally turn to Craig Hansen. After making the fatal mistake of allowing Alfonso Soriano to reach on a single, Hansen proceeded to walk Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez. Then, Sean Burnett swooped in to save the day, and was rewarded by allowing a single to Reed Johnson (scoring Theriot). Then, after securing the first two outs of the inning, Geovany Soto hit another double, scoring another 3 runs, and he was followed by Fontenot who also hit a double, scoring another run. Phew, did you catch all of that?

(*because "whupping sticks" is just too cliche)

Anyway, that pretty much wrapped it up for the Cubs. Sure, Kerry Wood scared us a little in the 9th, but the final result was Cubs 14, Pirates 9, and after a considerable offensive effort, they have now won 82 games on the season, they are 32 games over .500, they have won yet another series, and with 5 games remaining they have matched my wins prediction for the month.

By the way, a couple of weeks ago Peter Gammons wrote a blog speculating about whether or not Geovany Soto was MVP material. At this point, he's got to be the sure-fire bet to be the Rookie of the Year. Tonight, he went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, a homer, and 7 RBI. He's now got 20 homeruns on the year and he's driven in 78. With a month to play, while I think he falls short of being the National League MVP, he is without a doubt one of a few Cubs who has been absolutely essential to their success so far.

The Cubs will gain a game on the Cardinals tonight, who are currently being torn to shreds by the Brewers, and they play for a road game sweep tomorrow. Oh, and one final thought for you before you go: so far in the second half, Chicago is 13-5 on the road, and they're 12-1 in their last 13. Just incredible.

Does anyone else think this has the makings of a let down game. Coming off a HUGE sweep of the Brewers the Cubs now face the Pirates, a team they have decimated. It seems to me that the Cubs could be looking past the Pirates and their next opponent, the Astros, and looking towards a big series against the Cardinals. - Goat Reader kcassidy

Hey, when you're right, you're right.  After having beaten the Brewers to within an inch of their lives on the road, the Cubs returned to Wrigley Field yesterday only to see their resurgent offense shutdown by a young ex Yankee who had previously never done anything worth writing about.  

While that is surprising, the real shocker of the game probably comes from Jason Marquis, who pitched 6 strong innings of 3-run baseball.  He was complimented by Neal Cotts, Jeff Samardzija, and Carlos Marmol, who combined for 6 strikeouts in 3 innings of relief work - or 4 more strikeouts than what Marquis got his entire start.

Offensively, it was there, but it just wasn't clicking.  The Cubs drew 7 walks, they managed 5 hits, but as a team they left 8 on base and were unable to deliver the killing blows.  A week ago, that was par for the course and we would be very frustrated and nervous right now.  Today, we are probably more apt to see it as a blip in an otherwise unstoppable offensive machine, and I for one expect retribution tonight against the Pirates.