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GAME 66 PREVIEW CHICAGO CUBS (34-31) at NEW YORK YANKEES (34-32) Yankee Stadium, 2:05pm CT, TV: FOX

SP Chien-Ming Wang	SP *Glendon Rusch
SS #Neifi Perez	SS Derek Jeter
CF *Corey Patterson	LF *Tony Womack
1B Derrek Lee	RF Gary Sheffield
RF *Jeromy Burnitz	3B Alex Rodriguez
3B Aramis Ramirez	DH *Hideki Matsui
2B *Todd Walker	C #Jorge Posada
C Michael Barrett	CF #Bernie Williams
LF *Todd Hollandsworth	1B *Tino Martinez
DH Jason Dubois	2B *Robinson Cano

Don't forget to drop into the Parachat for in-game discussion!

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GAME 66 REVIEW SUICIDE BY BULLPEN

CUBS 1 YANKEES 8 Recap | Box Score | Play-by-play | Game Chart W: Chien-Ming Wang (4-2) L: Glendon Rusch (5-3)

Though the Cubs had been trailing 3-0, they had narrowed the deficit to two in the top of the sixth on a Jason Dubois solo home run. It was imperative then that the Cubs consolidated things in the bottom of the inning by keeping the Yankees off the board. When Rusch allowed both Posada and Williams to reach, taking him to 98 pitches, Dusty decided Glendon's mediocre outing had run its full course. With lefties Tino Martinez and Robinson Cano up next, Rich Hill was given the call (the guy's come a long way from being demoted from the Daytona rotation at around this time last year). Showcasing the gorgeous curveball for which he's famed, Hill struckout Martinez with ease, but when he followed that though with a walk to Cano to load the bases with just the one out and the top of the Yankee order up, Dusty motioned to the bullpen again. If the Cubs were ever going to win this one, leaving those bases loaded was the only real option. Not only would that keep the game close, it could just give the Cubs some much needed momentum with which to rally. To achieve that though they needed a dominating pitcher to come in and batten down the hatches, they needed as good a reliever out there as they could possibly muster at this stage in the game. Instead Dusty Baker indefensibly chose Joe Borowski. And the rest is history, as Jeter crushed a high and over the plate, somewhere in the eighties fastball for his first career grand slam, and with it all Cubs hopes of winning the game and or the series were crushed too. If there was any doubt about it before (and there certainly shouldn't have been, because it's been clear for a while now that Borowski is golden brown and lightly buttered toast), there definately cannot be any now. Joe Borowski has to go, and if he'd care to take the bitterly disappointing Cliff Bartosh and the part of Dusty's brain which implores him to persist in making such ridiculous bullpen decisions with him, that'd be much appreciated. Also much appreciated, of course, is the great service Borowski did the Cubs' bullpen in 2002 and 2003, when he surprised many, perhaps even himself, with his imperious relieving. But the time now has come for the Cubs to relieve themselves of the burden Borowski has sadly become, and sentimentality cannot get in the way. With Bartosh and Remlinger both now largely defunct too, the Cubs are currently operating a bullpen, and an eight man one at that, overcrowded with guys they cannot trust with the game on the line. That needs to change. Hendry has dismissed the 'pen's cracks long enough. What can be done? Firstly, Borowski and Bartosh need to find their way off the roster by whatever means possible, and if that means cutting them and paying the rest of their salary for the year, then so be it. Remlinger needs to be put on the trading block, or used solely as a mopup guy if there are no takers of his bloated contract. Jermaine Van Buren, who's been lights out in Iowa (28.2 IP, 17 H, 4 HR, 12 BB, 37 K, 1.88 ERA), needs to follow in the footsteps Borowski once took. And there's no getting away from it, unless Scott Williamson's very close to returning, and rushing him back wouldn't be that wise, the Cubs probably need outside help (and experience) to offset the fact that Wuertz, Wellemeyer, Ohman and Van Buren would have only about 160 major league innings in their careers between them. Who from outside the organisation can help? I think I'll turn that, and my position on this bullpen, over to your debate in the comments...

So the Cubs head to Yankee Stadium for a weekend series, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce you all to the team. See, since they're in New York, they don't get the media attention that they probably deserve. They toil in obscurity in a decrepit stadium (which is, thankfully, going to be replaced soon), and because they don't have the revenue to bring their payroll over $200M, they're struggling to stay over .500 and are six games behind the free-spending, large market Orioles. So, herewith, a quick sketch of the 25 guys who wear the pinstripes (which, by the way, are a slap in the face of tradition and ought to be replaced by something in a nice solid-color doubleknit):

GAME 64 PREVIEW FLORIDA MARLINS (32-30) at CHICAGO CUBS (34-29) Wrigley Field, 7:05pm CT, TV: FSFL, WGN

SP Greg Maddux	SP A.J. Burnett
CF *Juan Pierre	SS #Neifi Perez
2B #Luis Castillo	CF *Corey Patterson
LF Miguel Cabrera	1B Derrek Lee
1B *Carlos Delgado	RF *Jeromy Burnitz
3B Mike Lowell	3B Aramis Ramirez
C Paul Lo Duca	2B *Todd Walker
RF Juan Encarnacion	LF *Todd Hollandsworth
SS Alex Gonzalez	C Michael Barrett
Pitcher's spot	Pitcher's spot

First things first, Sergio! A wonderful performance blighted only by the return of his facial hair. And the fact no-one now can bring themselves to look past his last sixteen innings or so whenever someone has the audacity to suggest he should be traded. But you know me, though I'm one of Mitre's biggest fans, since before this time last week too, I'm audacious. And trading Mitre now makes a lot of sense. His value may never be higher, this team still has serious needs that can only be resolved via trades, and the Cubs are staring down the barrel of a serious pitching roster crunch come next year, with five or six pitchers the Cubs believe to be major-league ready (Maddux, Rusch, Mitre, Williams, a healthy Guzman and now Rich Hill too) potentially fighting over just two rotation spots behind Prior, Zambrano and Wood. It's a nice position to be in, but something is going to have to give somewhere. What a contrast in styles we'll see today. There's Maddux, of course, who hasn't thrown a pitch over 90mph in years. And then there's A.J. Burnett, who hasn't thrown a pitch over 100mph in, well, the last four days (actually, I'm not even sure of that, he's probably thrown a side session in that time). There's Maddux, who throws more pitches than you can shake a stick at (but no curve) with all the guile in the world. And then there's Burnett, who throws nothing but red-hot heat and knee-buckling power curves (okay, that's not quite true, he does once every few starts throw a change, and that change is about as fast as Maddux's fastball!). There probably couldn't be a greater contrast between two pitchers, at least short of Maddux being left-handed. And yet both at their best are as good as any pitcher in the game. There's more than one way to skin a cat. Go Cubs! And behave yourselves in the comments, or I'll send Greg Maddux over to skin your cat. And you thought he looked like such an amicable guy...

GAME 63 PREVIEW FLORIDA MARLINS (32-29) at CHICAGO CUBS (33-29) Wrigley Field, 7:05pm CT, TV: FSFL, WGN

SP Sergio Mitre	SP Josh Beckett
CF *Juan Pierre	SS #Neifi Perez
2B #Luis Castillo	CF *Corey Patterson
LF Miguel Cabrera	1B Derrek Lee
1B *Carlos Delgado	RF *Jeromy Burnitz
3B Damion Easley	3B Aramis Ramirez
C Paul Lo Duca	2B *Todd Walker
RF Juan Encarnacion	LF *Todd Hollandsworth
SS Alex Gonzalez	C Michael Barrett
Pitcher's spot	Pitcher's spot

Could Dusty perhaps do us a favour and get Corey out of the two spot? Honestly, there's just absolutely no good reason for it. Making outs, especially on the basepaths, with Derrek Lee coming up behind you really isn't the greatest way to help Lee's chances of getting enough RBI to win that triple crown. Todd Walker is the perfect two-hole hitter, and I personally couldn't care a less that Todd's in no hurry to break the 100m world record anytime soon. What else could be done to shake things up a bit? Well, I'm past wondering whether or not Cliff Bartosh deserves a spot on the roster (the conclusion I've come to is no), but I am now starting to wonder if Joe Borowski shouldn't be joining Bartosh on his way somewhere else, preferably quite far away. Borowski's fastball, as far as I've seen, is topping out at an extremly hittable 87-89mph, and his slider is equally unimpressive. And he's duly getting smacked as if it's 2004 all over again. Borowski's given up 3 home runs in his 8.1 innings, and unless his stuff magically improves, I'm not sure his results will either. As for Bartosh, I'm even less happy about that trade now than I was the day it when down (and I was pretty unhappy back then, let me assure you, because Bartosh was a day or two from going through waivers). Bartosh doesn't have the same problem with stuff as Borowski, but his results have been underwhelming to say the least, and I'm bitterly disappointed since I actually thought he'd be okay. Instead he's given up 5 home runs and walked 11 in 18.2 largely irrelevant innings. And largely irrelevant right now sums Bartosh up pretty nicely. Meanwhile, Bear Bay, who we squanderously gave up to acquire Bartosh, has taken promotion to High-A comfortably in his stride - on Sunday he threw seven innings of one-run ball while striking out 10, and his line on the year now is 66.2 IP, 62 H, 9 HR, 14 BB, 73 K and a 3.11 ERA. And in Iowa meanwhile Ben Grieve, Mike Fontenot and Jerome Williams, all ready right now to improve upon what we have at the major league level, at least in my view, are being left to fester. Great, just great. Oh. Go Cubs!