Today's "Box Score Highlights" are brought to you by Boston Logan International Airport. Or is it from? I don't understand prepositions.

In no particular order:

-Esmailin Caridad pitched two innings last night to bring his major league ERA down to 1.65 for the season. He also nabbed three strikeouts over the course of the outing. That seems like a good thing!

-Tom Gorgonzola had another five-inning outing, needing 95 pitches to get 15 outs. Serviceable fifh starter? I think so -- especially for a team with an already gargantuan payroll headed into next year.

-Jake Fox keeps hittin'. He's got a .280 average, and 43 RBIs on the season. I've gotta believe the Cubs will work his arse off this offseason trying to teach him how to play passable defense. He needs to play every day.

(Just like Micah Hoffpauir and Mike Fontenot deserve every day spots...? Whoops.)

-Sam Fuld went 1-for-3 with two walks. The plate patience part is definitely there; if he can keep flippin' singles with any sort of regularity, how can the Cubs spend $3 million on ReJo for 2010?

-Aramis Ramirez is still good at hitting, even with one shoulder. But then again, why hasn't he had surgery yet?

All in all, a nice win. Nice job playing spoiler, whether or not the Giants secretly suck.

Go Cubs!

Oh, Randy Wells.  We lament this loss! 

Either way, the Cubs have successfully spoiled the crap out of the Giants.  It's about a sure-bet that the Rockies will be in the post season this year, thanks to the beat-down Chicago has dealt San Francisco.

Today's game, though, was the death rattle for the Giants, as they were able to step up and win against a -- I will continue to argue -- worn out Randy Wells. 

Offensively, the Cubs managed only 5 hits and 3 walks, but Randy Wells got his ass kicked.  Wells surrendered 10, walked 2, and only struck out 1.  In fact the Cubs only run came in the 9th, thanks to a Bobby Scales triple. 

I'm just going to call this a pity win.  Clearly the Cubs feel sorry for San Fran, and so they threw them this empty victory. 

Anyway, tomorrow's the last off day, and then it's a 4-gamer against Pittsburgh.

Randy Wells (11-9, 3.00 ERA) vs. Matt Cain (13-7, 2.99 ERA)

Story-lines
How impressive has Randy Wells been?  Look at the very basic line comparing him with Matt Cain -- probably any team in baseball would take the Giants stud without qualms, but in reality his numbers are no better than Randy's.  Perhaps Wells has been even better than we give him credit for.

Probing deeper, let's compare exactly how well Randy is doing pound-for-pound through the amazing power of projections.

Matt Cain -- through 204.2 innings -- 13-7, 175 hits, 22 HR, 70 BB, 158 SO, 1.20 WHIP.
Randy Wells -- projected through 204.2 innings -- 15-12, 203 hits, 19 HR, 54 BB, 124 SO, 1.27 WHIP

Not bad, not bad at all. 

Now, one of the most interesting questions we'll be asking this off season is whether or not Wells is a one-year-wonder, or if he is a future staple in the Cubs rotation.  Jim Hendry -- should he be back next year -- will be taking a fairly big roll of the dice in assuming that both Randy and lefty Tom Gorzelanny are big league material. 

Regardless, he is very close to having -- minus the 20 strikeout game and high SO totals -- a comparable-if-not-better rookie season than Kerry Wood in 1998.  And he is now poised to finish an improbable sweep of the Giants while cementing the Cubs third consecutive winning season -- and sixth of the decade -- not that it means too much.

The funny thing to me is that there have been a fairly large number of hardcore fans -- and some bloggers -- who have hated this season, who are practically giving up on the franchise because of this season, but all things considered this year has mostly just been mundane.  It hasn't been horrible, it hasn't been great. All it has been is average at a time when we want anything but.  Really, that's not so bad, and it's on par with my expectations of the Cubs organization.  They won't reach the playoffs every year, but they should compete.  Even Yankee fans couldn't ask for much more than that.

Tom Gorzelanny (6-2, 5.08 ERA) vs. Barry Zito (10-12, 3.99 ERA)

Story-lines
15 wins, 9 losses.  That's the Cubs record so far in September.  Of course, we all know it came too little, too late, hot on the heels of a morbid 11-17 August. 

Maybe it's because there's no pressure anymore.  Maybe it's because this is how the Cubs should've been playing all along.  Or maybe that's just it -- without the pressure, the Cubs are playing up to their talent level.  Whatever it is, Chicago is two wins away from finishing at .500 for the third straight year, and it looks as if they will have completely squashed the Giants' playoff hopes along the way.

Hey, we'll take it. 

Last night we saw a reminder about why we love Big Z.  He outpitched his opponents, he outhit them, and between innings he very well may have saved a small child from a burning building somewhere.  It was just one of those nights for Carlos, one of those tantalizing, why-can't-he-do-this-all-the-time nights. 

We've argued it back and forth here, but I'm pretty sure GROTA is unified in wanting Zambrano to return next season.  Even Rob never said he wanted the Moose gone, he just felt -- understandably -- that Zambrano's not the Roy Halladay of the Cubs.  Because he's not.  If he ever writes a follow-up to his smashingly successful auto-biography, he can probably title it Too Volatile to Win 20, the Carlos Zambrano Story.  But on a solid team with 5 pitchers who will more often than not win their games, we can probably live with the knowledge that Carlos will have his seasonal ups and downs but will always, always buckle down and be there to win games in October.  Lest we forget that he's served the role of "ace" on more playoff Cub teams than any other Cub living or even recently dead.

Back to the game at hand, Barry Zito used to be an ace and Tom Gorzelanny wants to pitch us his belief that he can start next year.  We get to find out how likely his chances might be in just 30 minutes or so.  Go Cubs.

(graphic pending)

Does anyone know where to look for the stat that records “Most Baseball Games Won Singlehandedly?”

I’ve got to imagine Carlos Zambrano is at the top of that leader board.

He was at it again last night, knocking in two runs and giving up only one over the course of a complete game two-hitter. ‘Los walked one, and struck out eight.

That’s kind of been the story of Z’s career, in that: WE KNOW HE CAN DO THIS! The no-hitter, last night’s game, his performances in the postseason (do NOT pin the ’08 game on him, after he got five freakin’ outs in the inning) are all evidence that he’s got ace talent.

But we also know he lacks ace composure.

You might say Z is at his best when the game matters least. I for one would argue that maybe he’s not good in somewhat meaningful games, but in the Huge Games with Major Implications (read: postseason) he’s money.

So where does that put us on the whole “Trade Z” debate? For me, he’s a top pitching talent, with one of the best bats at his position in the league (…), and that’s someone you want to keep on your team. Maybe as he
ages he’ll get less crazy? Or maybe not.

Oh yeah, and the offense still sucks.

Go Cubs!

Carlos Zambrano (8-6, 3.91 ERA) vs. Tim Lincecum (14-6, 2.47 ERA)

Story-lines
Ah, Carlos Zambrano.  What a shiz-with-a-"z" season you've had.  For the second consecutive year, you've thrown under 200 innings -- this year you'll probably top out at around 170.  You also, for the second straight year, went winless in August.  Not to mention the fact that you have walked more guys this year already than you did in all of last season, despite having tossed 32 fewer innings so far.

In other words, folks, this is not a shining season for Zambrano.  And rather than ponder whether or not he will demand a trade, perhaps we should instead be worrying about his inevitable arm injury and whether or not he'll ever have even a single season that justifies his massive contract.  My thoughts are that he will, because Carlos Zambrano is just that tough.

But, you know, I could be wrong about that.  Still, I do know one thing: the Giants are a tough team, and they are turning to one of their best pitchers tonight.  If Carlos wants to avoid any chance of finishing the year with an embarrassing 8-8 record -- a possibility -- then he'll need to hunker down and out-duel an ace tonight.

Jeff Baker is looking like a hell of a pick up by Jim Hendry.  It was his bat -- and his bat alone -- that lifted the Cubs to victory last night in a game dominated by pitching.

Ryan Dempster went 7 innings and allowed only 2 runs, but Brad Penny was even more effective.  The only runs the Cubs scored in the first 8 came from a double play ball -- hit by Baker -- after which the Giants scored 2 runs (1 immediately in the 4th, the other in the 7th).

Then, in the 9th inning, Derrek Lee drew a walk, stole his first base of the year, and was then knocked home by a Baker ball that could not be contained by the ballpark.  Carlos Marmol then proceeded to strike out the first batter he faced, before giving up a single to Randy Wynn and then walking Travis Ishikawa.  Then, like the Marmol of old, he buckled down and struck out two batters to end the inning.

Since joining the Cubs, Baker is batting .329 with 4 homers and 19 RBI.  Odds are he's a backup at best next year, but he has definitely been a pleasant surprise in 2009.  Anyway, the Cubs play the Giants again late tonight.

Ryan Dempster (10-8, 3.72 ERA) vs. Brad Penny (10-9, 5.35 ERA)

Story-lines
Dempster and Penny have both had disappointing seasons, but if you want a sense of perspective you should compare their lines.  Neither will be bragging about 2009 to their family, but at least Clownsevelt has a respectful ERA.

Of course, all of this remains over-shadowed by the saga of Milton Bradley.  Something that we are prone to forget about is how it's not just the Cubs that are seriously dysfunctional.  It's pretty much any organization that takes winning seriously.  Don't believe me?  Just take a gander at the Mets, who are about two incidents away from building an octagon and fighting it out in there. 

I'm sure there will always be people who disagree -- those arguing that they have no financial reason to feel this way -- but the Cubs want to win.  They really, really do.  They want to win badly.  Their players want to win, their fans want to win, everybody wants to win.  And when winning doesn't happen, like this year, everybody goes a little crazy.  It's really not unusual, and it's not prone to happen only to the Cubs.

So, yes, it sucks that they've lost, and it doubly sucks that Milton Bradley has turned out to be the nutter we all denied he was, but I don't feel ashamed about it.  I'm not embarrassed by the organization for trying to win.  I suppose that that is a step up from previous seasons when I felt humiliated.

Overview
The season is winding down and the Cubs are on the road against one of the toughest teams in the west.  But even the Giants look as if they are not playoff bound.  Still, San Fran will be playing their asses off in this series, and if they have any pride the Cubs will be playing the role of spoiler.  As Dusty would say, "you gotta respect the game enough to try to win, dude." 

That Dusty was always one righteous dude. 

Match-Ups
Thursday, September 24th - Ryan Dempster vs. Bad Brad Penny

Clownsevelt has won managed to win his 10 games.  So has Penny, who's been a lot worse.  Considering who the Giants are turning to later in the series, if the Cubs want to even have a chance for a split this is a must-win game.

Friday, September 25th - Carlos Zambrano vs. Tim Lincecum

The Big Moosey looks like he's going to fall short of 10 wins this year.  As Rob would point out, it's not what you'd expect from an ace.  As I like to point out, from 1993 until 1996, Roger Clemens was a shell of himself, struggling to stay healthy, to pitch effectively, and to be the Ace everybody thought he was.  In other words, Carlos is a shell of himself this year, but that doesn't mean he won't be the best pitcher on the team next year.  He has my support and confidence, so long as the journos fail to chase him out of town.

Saturday, September 26th - Tom Gorzelanny vs. Barry Zito

One's a lefty who lost his zip (but has put up half-decent numbers).  The other's a lefty with unmet potential.  What happens in this game is a total toss-up, but if Gorzo wants to have a shot at starting with the Cubs in '09 then he must know he's under the microscope on Saturday.

Sunday, September 27th - Ted Lilly vs. Matt Cain

I love Ted Lilly with the fervor of a cupid-shot ass monkey (whatever that means), but not even I think he's favored to beat Cain.  Still, stranger things have happened, like that time I came up with the cupid-shot ass monkey metaphor.  What was I thinking?

Conclusions
Who the hell knows?  The Cubs are toast, but have been playing better knowing that Milton Douchely is gone.  Or maybe that's a coincidence.  Either way, they're playing spoiler and will try to bust some San Francisco ass.

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You can tell that Lou Piniella likes Tim Lincecum on account of how he apparently tried to give him a good chance of tossing a no-hitter today.  Here was the lineup the Cubs trotted out there against the Giants:

CF Joey "GONNA LOSE HIS GIG" Gathright
SS Aaron Miles
RF Fukudome
1B D.Lee (went 1 for 4, which is a mild improvement on going "0 for suck")
LF Micah Hoffpauir
3B Mike Fontenot
2B BOBBY SCALES (went 1 for 4, collecting his first ever big league hit)
C Koyie Hill

In other words, five of the eight Cubs weren't typical starters and today's game resembled more of a split-squad Spring Training game than anything else.  Naturally, the Cubs lost.

The positives were that a) this isn't a lineup that was indicative of how the Cubs will perform this year on account of how the majority of those players aren't meant to be big league starters and b) Bobby Scales played and performed decently, although I was somewhat befuddled to see Fontenot start at third and Scales at second. 

The negatives were that Jeff Samardzija continues to leave us baffled as to why he was called up to pitch out of the pen as he has yet to display in 2009 the ability to get out major league hitters.  This time the consequence was that Sean Marshall's ERA took an unecessary hit, after the lefty had given 7 innings of decent baseball. 

Oh, and on the day in which I note that Neal Cotts hasn't faced the minimum but once, he did it again.  Go figure.

Current Record: 14-12
Position in the NL Central: 2nd place, 3 games out of first
Best Possible Record: 150-12
Worst Possible Record: 14-148
Record needed to win 110: 96-40
On Pace For: 87-75

Quick Links
Series Preview: Giants vs. Cubs
Game Recap: Cubs 4, Giants 2
Just a brief word prior to the GameCast
GameCast: May 5th, Giants vs. Cubs

Tim Lincecum (2-1, 3.16ERA) vs. Sean Marshall (0-1, 3.32ERA)
Story-lines
Two consecutive wins is nothing.  Three is a trend.  Four is a streak.  And five?  Five is usually the start of something special, which is exactly what the Cubs are playing for today.  Lawd knows they have their problems.  Shall I outline them for you?

• No, I shall not.  You already know all about them.

But despite those issues, the Cubs have the potential to continue to play well.  I particularly am looking forward to watching the team play with an actual backup third baseman on the roster - BOBBY SCALES! - and my fingers are crossed that the 31-year-old rookie will play well enough to warrant a tough decision by Hendrinella at a later date. 

For me, the interesting subject of now and the future is the gameplay of the Questionable Quartet.  Fittingly, all four have begun to show the signs of shaking out the cobwebs - Lee, Fontenot, Bradley, and Soto all had big games in the last series against the Marlins.  Maybe it's not a coincidence then that, at last, the Cubs are playing like a winner.

Who's Hot
Koyie Hill - 9 for his last 24, Hill's batting .375 in the past 7 days
Ryan Theriot - Geezus, what has Theriot been drinking?  Before this season Theriot had never hit more than 3 homeruns in a season, be it his 134 at bat season in 2006, or his 537 at bat season in 2007, or his 580 at bat season last year.  In fact, before the start of this season TheQuietRiot had 7 career homeruns.  He's well on his way to doubling that total having hit 3 longballs in the past week alone.  Cherish this moment Cubs fans, because for now Theriot is on pace to hit 19.
Mike Fontenot - It would be somewhat petty of me to remind you that Mike Fontenot will never be as good as Mark DeRosa.  So far this year, DeRo is batting .241 with 5 homers, 19 RBI, and a .738 OPS.  Meanwhile Fontenot is now batting .266 with 5 homers, 14 RBI, and an .852 OPS.  I'll take the younger one that bats lefty, although now that Lil' Babe is producing, people are now expressing the ridiculous wish that DeRo was the team's first baseman rather than DeePee.
Angel Guzman - I appear to have been wrong.  In his last 7 appearances, Guzman has had an ERA of 3.12.  Not exactly stellar, but for a long reliever it's pretty damn good.

Who's Not
The Chicago Bullpen - While Guzman has found balance to his season, Carlos Marmol, Aaron Heilman, Dave Patton, Jeff Samardzija, and Neal Cotts have come undone.  The Cubs pen looks horrible right now, but as somebody who recently took a stand to say that the lineup couldn't be as bad as they appeared, I will do so again now and say that the bullpen can - and will - turn things around.

Kosuke Fukudome - He's still doing better than the Questionable Quartet, but Fuku's last week has been, er, weak.  In his last 24 at bats Fukudome is batting .250, although he's hit a homer and has 5 RBI in that span.  I suspect it's nothing to panic about.

Conclusions
Four is galore but five would be ... a hive?  Eh, I dunno.  I'm pretty impressed with the Giants pitching but a Cubs team that stays patient, works the counts, draws walks, and gets epic homeruns from pantywaste shortstops is pretty hard to beat.  Today's game should be a good one.

Quick Links
Series Preview: Giants vs. Cubs
Game Recap: Cubs 4, Giants 2