4/3/08 vs. Milwaukee; W 6-3; (1-2)

So yesterday I complain that Theriot only gets hits when they don't matter, and Alfonso and Aramis don't get hits. Today, Soriano gets his first RBI by taking a base on balls...A BASE ON BALLS...he only did that 31 times all last year! Then Aramis goes deep in the fifth and both Soriano and Theriot get clutch RBI hits in the sixth. Maybe today I should complain that Rich Hill hasn't thrown a no hitter yet and the Cubs have never had every player in the lineup hit a home run!

But seriously, today was a much better game all around. Didn't seem that way to start what with spotting the Brewers a two run lead. In the end though, Dempster settled in and pitched well. Marmol had another nice outing and Kerry Wood notched the first save of his career.

Today was a day for redemption; something Cubs fans are all too unfamiliar with in the context of a whole season. The entire starting lineup has now reached base safely on a hit. Not to mention that our 3,4, 5 hitters (and Geovany Soto) each has a home run. Woody got his first save and the team got the first win. A nice way to send the Brewers out of town and get ready for the Astros.

Can we give enough credit to Dempster? This guy hasn't pitched as a starter in almost three years! Here we are in a season where the Cubs are picked by many to finish among the top in the league and the ghosts of 100 years are all around. The team had lost two in a row and realistically played terrible. Nice time to try out your stuff for more than an inning. What does he do in this sitation? Only come back from a rough first inning to throw a solid six innings, striking out five, and giving up only three hits! Years from now we'll be looking back at the first win of the 2008 World Champion Cubs and remarking on what a great performance Ryan Dempster gave us.

Thanks to KC sweeping Detroit, we aren't the last team to win a game this year. Thanks to San Diego have a four game set against Houston, and dominating, we aren't even in last place in our division. Now Houston comes to town before we head off in search of our first road win. Let's see if we can precede that with our first series sweep.