After sweeping the Brewers in Milwaukee and giving the Cubs some much needed breathing room in the National League Central, the Chicago Cubs returned to Wrigley Field with the hopes of avoiding a let down. During the past week the Cubs have won 4 of 6 games at home and managed to avoid losing their 5 game lead over Brewers and Cardinals.
Alfonso Soriano has been a huge reason for the Cubs post All Star game success. Soriano has given the Cubs the boost that they needed when they started to faulter in mid July. 21 home runs for a man who has missed six weeks of the season is quite impressive, and his personality on the field seems to rub off on the rest of the Cubs lineup.
The Cubs bullpen went through a tough overworked spell after Kerry Wood couldn't recover from his aggravating blister on his pitching hand. Carlos Marmol was having trouble finding the strike zone, while the rest of the Cubs bullpen have been shaky at best. Since the all star break, Carlos Marmol seems to have regained his location and is once again being the reliable set up man that the Cubs need. Kerry Wood has been activated from the DL and recently pitched one scoreless inning in relief, and more importantly his finger appears to be fine. The Cubs may have to use Kerry Wood sparingly until they are confident that his finger has completely healed. The Cubs will need Wood during their stretch run in their quest to make the playoffs.
Bobby Howry has been a headache for Lou Piniella all season. Howry has the "stuff" to be a solid set up combination with Marmol, but he hasn't shown any consistency on the mound. His most recent bullpen implosion cost Rich Harden another win, and may have lost any remaining confidence that Lou has in him. Chad Gaudin may be the man who replaces Bobby Howry in the role of holding the lead to pass on to Marmol and Wood in late inning relief.
The Cubs get the rare opportunity to enjoy a day off (their first day off in three weeks) today, and hope the the day off will have the Cubs ready and rested as the St. Louis Cardinals roll in to town in a very important divisional match up.
Ryan Theriot hit a ball off of his foot yesterday and appeared to be in a lot of pain. Ronny Cedeno replaced Ryan Theriot in the seventh inning. Today's day off will hopefully give Theriot some time to rest his foot and be ready for the St. Louis series. Theriot has been an integral part of the Cubs success this year, getting on base consistently for the Cubs RBI men in the middle of the order.
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