5/15/08 vs Padres; W 4-0; (25-16)

Ryan Dempster threw 8 1/3 strong innings, drove in the first Cub run, and scored the third run. I am surprised they didn't have him sing the seventh inning stretch. Dempster was truly dominant in his pitching walking only one and striking out twelve. Through seven he never allowed more than one base runner per inning.

Possibly his most interesting play of the day came on a sacrifice bunt in the Cub half of the sixth. He bunted the ball only a foot in front of the plate. As he came out of the box he stopped, getting run into by Padres catcher Luke Carlin. As he fell, Carlin picked up the ball and tagged him out. Ronny Cedeno advanced to second on the play. Len and Bob said it looked like he made contact with the catcher and then didn't know if he was automatically out or not, so he stopped. I think he knew Carlin had an excellent chance to throw out Cedeno at second and stopped on purpose. Once contact was made he flopped as though it were all accidental. Hysterical to watch, and ultimately pointless since Cedeno didn't score, Dempster was involved in everything today.

Kerry Wood was much more dominant today striking out the last two Padres to earn a save. I know yesterday I said a four run lead precludes a save opportunity, but today the tying run was on deck as their were two base runners on when he entered the game.

Greg Maddux didn't have it as good in his return to Wrigley. All the Cub hitters except Theriot managed to get a base knock against Maddux before he left during the fifth inning. He still received a nice standing ovation from the crowd as he departed.

Despite the slew of hits today... thirteen in all... the Cubs scored only in the fifth inning. Consecutive singles by Cedeno, Blanco, Dempster and Soriano were followed by a sac fly from Theriot. Then Derek Lee doubled in the final two runs of the day.

Caught up in the middle of all this was Jim Edmonds first game as a Cub. Edmonds singled with no one on in the bottom of the second. His first chance with men on base he hit into a double play. Too early to put a verdict on this obviously. The bigger question was why Kosuke didn't move into the second slot. Cedeno and Blanco were in the lineup, so maybe it will change when Soto and DeRosa start. Edmonds hit sixth today behind Kosuke with the traditional first four hitters staying in their slots.

I would expect a move to the second slot for Kosuke tomorrow with Theriot dropping to eighth. Soto and DeRosa will probably hit sixth and seventh following Edmonds in the five hole. Sean Gallagher will go for his first win, as we start a three game set with the Pirates. The Cubs and Pirates are the only two teams not playing interleague games this weekend.

The Pirates come in hot, winners of eight of their last ten. They are actually sporting a record above .500 in games not against the Cubs. The rest of the NL Central matches up against other hot teams as well. Houston, themselves winners eight times in their last ten tries, faces Texas who is 7-3 in the same stretch. St. Louis will contend with Tampa Bay, currently in first place in the AL East and 8-2 over their last ten. Milwaukee is the only NL Central team playing a team that isn't hot. Too bad it is the Red Sox and the series is at Fenway. The BoSox are 14-5 at home, and the current trend of losing has been on the road. Should be a good weekend of baseball all around.