Before the servers crash again, some notes and preview.... - Barrett likely out for season, details too gruesome for 50% of the population to repeat out loud - Carlos Marmol activated, Scott Moore called up - Jacque Jones left early yesterday with an infection to his tear duct. Insert crying jokes here. - Z goes for his 15th win today, would tie him for NL league with Brad Penny Go Cubs or go draft pick...either way! GAME ONE HUNDRED-THIRTY-SEVEN IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] PITTSBURGH PIRATES (54-83 (Div) 6th - 20.0 GB; (Wild Card) 13th -16.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (55-81 (Div) 5th - 18.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 15.0 GB) Wrigley Field, 1:20 pm CDT Weather: Overcast, 67 degrees, Wind in from LF @ 1 mph TV: WGN Radio: WGN, XM 189

Carlos Zambrano, RHP 14-5, 3.33 ERA, 191.2 IP 187 K, 100 BB, 19 HR 208/313/356 against	Paul Maholm, LHP 6-10, 4.84 ERA, 158 IP 70 K, 48 BB, 16 HR 261/327/428 against
*Chris Duffy, CF Joe Randa, 3B Freddy Sanchez, SS Jason Bay, LF Xavier Nady, RF #Ryan Doumit, 1B Ronny Paulino, C Jose Castillo, 2B *Paul Maholm, P	*Juan Pierre, CF Ryan Theriot, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B Matt Murton, LF #Angel Pagan, RF Henry Blanco, C Ronny Cedeno, SS #Carlos Zambrano, P
Pirates vs. Zambrano: Jack Wilson: 8-31, 258/324/290 Jason Bay: 8-26, 308/419/769 Jose Castillo: 5-20, 250/286/400 Xavier Nady: 5-12, 417/417/750 Freddy Sanchez: 2-12, 167/231/167	Cubs vs. Maholm: No Cubs with more than 10 AB's

Promising lefty Sean Marshall returns to the mound today from his oblique injury. And your welcome back gift? Barry Bonds. Marshall faced the Giants earlier this season in what I believe was our first massive losing streak (So many, too hard to count anymore) and got shelled for nine runs over three and two-thirds innings pitched. Let's hope this one goes better. A fun little note on Marshall for those worrying that the Cubs burn through young arms like their tires at an Indy Car race. Marshall hasn't gone over 105 pitches all season and has topped 90 pitches in 10 of his 19 starts. Another mild interesting note is that the #1 and #2 hitters are hitting .320 and .417 respectively off Marshall, but no one else is hitting above .270. He seems to have more trouble with the table-setters than the power guys for whatever reason. Go Cubs! GAME ONE HUNDRED-THIRTY-FIVE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (66-69 (Div) 3rd - 6.5 GB; (Wild Card) 5th - 2.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (55-79 (Div) 5th - 17.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 13.0 GB) Wrigley Field, 1:20 pm CDT Weather: Sunny, 71 degrees, Wind In From CF @ 12mph TV: CSN, DirecTV 734 Radio: WGN, XM 189

Sean Marshall, LHP 5-8, 4.98 ERA, 103 IP 67 K, 46 BB, 13 HR 262/348/415 against	Matt Cain, RHP 10-9, 4.32 ERA, 150 IP 70 K, 48 BB, 16 HR 261/327/428 against
*Randy Winn, CF #Omar Vizquel, SS Shea Hillenbrand, 1B Barry Bonds, LF #Ray Durham, 2B Moises Alou, RF Pedro Feliz, 3B Eliezer Alfonzo, C Matt Cain, P	*Juan Pierre, CF *Freddie Bynum, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B Michael Barrett, C *Jacque Jones, RF #Angel Pagan, LF Ronny Cedeno, SS *Sean Marshalll, P
Giants vs. Marshall: No Giants with more than 10 AB's	Cubs vs. Cain: No Cubs with more than 10 AB's

It's hard to believe that only two months ago I reacted to a Dempsterian meltdown by taking the time to figure out what to look forward to for the rest of the year. And that was after actually watching the game! I experienced this week's back-to-back 11th-inning disasters only via the coments here and ESPNews at the gym, and it was still enough for me to write a sentence that I really never thought I'd write: I'm done with this team for this season. Seriously, what is to be gained by watching this team over the next month? Jerry Seinfeld has a well-known riff about how rooting for a specific team is just rooting for laundry, and I gotta tell ya, this laundry sucks. I'm gonna torture this metaphor for a little while: the ownership needs to sort through the laundry, throw out a bunch of it, and get some new clothes, preferably a nice pair of flat-front slacks that can hit 30 home runs and plays a passable outfield defense. Maybe a snappy blazer that can play second base, too. Oh, and a new manager. Until that happens, I can't follow this team. All of my favorite players are either hurt or traded, with the exception of Derrek Lee, and Lee isn't enough to keep me paying attention. There's just too much negativity, too much suckitude, too much "clog-the-bases" anger-making bullshit for me to deal with on a daily basis. It isn't healthy. I'm working on tabulating the results of the "Wisdom Of Us" contest (remember that?), and I'll be unveiling the results throughout October. Hopefully that month will also bring us a few decent free agent signings and a new manager. For those of you who aren't as completely burned out on this team as I am, there's a little bit of actual content after the jump:

Hill is 3-2, with a 4.09 ERA since his most recent callup and if you take out that first start versus the Cards his ERA is down to 3.38 in his last 6 starts. I think we'll all take that, let's hope he can keep it up. The Cubs are in (another) death spiral losing six in a row, 10 of their last 11 and 11 of their last 13. The Giants meanwhile are below .500 but very much in the wild card race trailing the frontrunner by a mere 2.5 games. Go Cubs! GAME ONE HUNDRED-THIRTY-FOUR IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (66-68 (Div) 3rd - 5.5 GB; (Wild Card) 4th - 2.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (54-79 (Div) 5th - 17.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 15.0 GB) Wrigley Field, 1:20 pm CDT Weather: Cloudy, 70 degrees, Wind In From CF @ 13mph TV: WGN Radio: WGN, XM 189

Rich Hill, LHP 3-6, 5.81 ERA, 57.1 IP 40 K, 29 BB, 12 HR 263/350//507 against	Noah Lowry, LHP 7-7, 3.75 ERA, 136.2 IP 70 K, 48 BB, 16 HR 261/327/428 against
*Randy Winn, CF #Omar Vizquel, SS Shea Hillenbrand, 1B Moises Alou, RF #Ray Durham, 2B #Todd Linden, LF Pedro Feliz, 3B Todd Greene, C Noah Lowry, P	*Juan Pierre, CF Ryan Theriot, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B Michael Barrett, C *Jacque Jones, RF Matt Murton, LF Ronny Cedeno, SS *Rich Hill, P
Giants vs. Hill: No Giants with more than 10 AB's	Cubs vs. Lowry: No active Cubs with more than 10 AB's

Barry "The Creep" Bonds is out of the lineup and it looks like it's a good day to pitch with a brisk 13 mph wind in from CF.

Just before today's deadline for setting playoff rosters passed, the Cubs dealt Phil Nevin to the Minnesota Twins for the very popular PTBNL. The dude sure gets around. It's certainly a step up from the ITBNL (Intern to be Named Later) that was rumored to be coming our way from the Dodgers for John Mabry. Very unfortunately it seems that deal fell through. Over the last month, Nevin hit 346/393/519 in 52 AB's while Mabry hit 194/231/222 with 62 AB's. Since the All-Star break Nevin had 86 AB's for a line of 314/362/547 while Mabry has had 85 AB's for a line of 224/292/400. Go Dusty! Nevin was actually about our third best hitter in his time here if you go by OPS and I'd be all for bringing him back next year if he's interested in a bench role. He also seems to really irritate the Cubs beat writers which I find entertaining. I guess we'll have to see who the PTBNL is, maybe we'll get Justin Jones back.

- Sean Marshall will likely start Saturday against the Giants. Also, Carlos Marmol will head to the bullpen when he's ready to come off the DL. The rotation for the final month will likely be Z, Hill, Marshall and then two of either Angel Guzman, Juan Mateo or Wade Miller. We also have Hendry digging his own grave here:

"There's no sense moaning and groaning about it. We just have to have a good off-season."

Damn straight. - How about some love for Ryan Theriot? He's doesn't have enough to be a major league starter, but I can see him as an actual useful bench player, one who can get on base and actually steal a base. Beyond his 5-hit game yesterday, he stole his 7th base in 8th chances, which puts him third on the team already. Always one of my bigger criticisms of Dusty is that he goes on and on about having speed but isn't nearly aggressive enough on the basepaths. I'm a much bigger fan of the power and patience method of baseball, you know, walk, walk, 3-run homer but you can make speed work for you. A good example is the Angels, a team with only one real blazer in Chone Figgins, but is constantly forcing the issue on the basepaths, consistently putting pressure on the defense. I'm not just talking about this year, but all the recent incarnations of the Halos. As I mentioned, it's not a philosophy I really stand behind, BUT if you're going to focus on speed on your team, then go about using it the right way. As Scioscia states:

" If you have team speed, you have to use it."

Anyway, that's my rant for today. And Hendry reitertated that Baker is staying through the season. Also, John Mabry is possibly being pursued by the LA Dodgers, rumor has it the Cubs are eyeing a promising intern in the PR department in exchange.

It's already 1-0 Cubs in the first with the based loaded and I haven't had my morning coffee yet. Go Cubs or go draft pick....either way. GAME ONE HUNDRED-THIRTY-THREE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (54-78 (Div) 5th - 16.0 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 13.0 GB) AT PITTSBURGH PIRATES (52-81 (Div) 6th - 18.5 GB; (Wild Card) 13th - 15.5 GB) PNC PARK, 11:30 am CDT Weather: TV: CSN, DirecTV 734 Radio: WGN, XM 183

Victor Santos, RHP 5-9, 5.59 ERA, 106.1 IP 75 K, 41 BB, 16 HR 312/375/506 against	Juan Mateo, RHP 1-2, 3.38 ERA, 24 IP 12 K, 10 BB, 2 HR 305/380/411 against
*Juan Pierre, CF Ryan Theriot, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Phil Nevin, 1B *Jacque Jones, RF Michael Barrett, C Matt Murton, LF Ronny Cedeno, SS Juan Mateo, P	*Chris Duffy, CF Jose Bautista, 3B Freddy Sanchez, SS Jason Bay, LF *Jeromy Burnitz, RF Xavier Nady, 1B #Ryan Doumit, C Jose Castillo, 2B Victor Santos, P
Cubs vs. Santos: Michael Barrett: 4-23, 174/269/217, 2 K, 2 BB, 1 2B Aramis Ramirez: 7-21, 333/364/714, 1 K, 1 BB, 5 2B, 1 HR Derrek Lee: 4-20, 200/292/500, 3 K, 3 BB, 2 HR John Mabry: 3-13, 231/231/462, 3 K, 0 BB, 1 HR Jacque Jones: 3-11, 273/333/364, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 2B	Pirates vs. Mateo: No Pirates have faced Mateo

Z's Cy Young quest continues tonight versus the generally hapless Pirates. Z of course leads the NL in strikeouts and is tied for the league lead in wins, always a favorite stat of the voters. He's also sixth in ERA, but more surprisingly considering our offense, he's 14th in Run Support at 5.51 runs per game while the team itself only averages 4.22 runs per game. Take out the day's that Z starts and the Cubs average about 3.87 runs per game for the other starters. That would be what the scholars deem --- lousy. Go Cubs or go draft pick....either way. GAME ONE HUNDRED-THIRTY-TWO IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (54-77 (Div) 5th - 16.0 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 12.5 GB) AT PITTSBURGH PIRATES (51-81 (Div) 6th - 19.5 GB; (Wild Card) 13th - 16.0 GB) PNC PARK, 6:05 pm CDT Weather: TV: WGN, DirecTV 734 Radio: WGN, XM 183

Paul Maholm, LHP 6-10, 4.82 ERA, 153 IP 99 K, 70 BB, 18 HR 306/384/467 against	Carlos Zambrano, RHP 14-5, 3.31 ERA, 184.2 IP 180 K, 99 BB, 19 HR 207/315/358 against
*Juan Pierre, CF *Freddie Bynum, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B Michael Barrett, C Matt Murton, LF #Angel Pagan, RF Ryan Theriot, SS #Carlos Zambrano, P	*Chris Duffy, CF Jose Bautista, 3B Freddy Sanchez, SS Jason Bay, LF Xavier Nady, RF Ronny Paulino, C #Ryan Doumit, 1B Jose Castillo, 2B *Paul Maholm, P
Cubs vs. Maholm: No Cubs with more than 10 Ab's	Pirates vs. Zambrano: Jack Wilson: 8-31, 258/324/290,2 K, 3 BB, 1 2B Jason Bay: 8-22, 364/481/909, 6 K, 5 BB, 3 HR, 3 2B Jose Castillo: 5-17, 294/333/471, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 HR

When two baseball heavyweights collide, you know a nation will be tuned in to catch every last pitch. Guzman tries to put two good starts in a row together and good to see that someone told Dusty that Theriot can play short. Go Cubs! (or Go Pirates cause that higher draft pick couldn't hurt) GAME ONE HUNDRED--THIRTY-ONE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (54-76 (Div) 5th - 15.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 12.5 GB) AT PITTSBURGH PIRATES (50-81 (Div) 6th - 20 GB; (Wild Card) 13th - 17.0 GB) PNC PARK, 6:05 pm CDT Weather: Drizzle, 75 degrees, Wind in from CF @ 4 mph TV: CSN, DirecTV 734 Radio: WGN, XM 187

Ian Snell, RHP 11-8, 4.53 ERA, 151.1 IP 133 K, 58 BB, 21 HR 278/342/463 against	Angel Guzman, RHP 0-3, 5.84 ERA, 37 IP 41 K, 26 BB, 4 HR 275/393/444 against
*Juan Pierre, CF *Freddie Bynum, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Jacque Jones, RF Derrek Lee, 1B Michael Barrett, C #Angel Pagan, LF Ryan Theriot, SS Angel Guzman, P	*Chris Duffy, CF Jose Bautista, 3B Freddy Sanchez, SS Jason Bay, LF Xavier Nady, RF Ronny Paulino, C #Ryan Doumit, 1B Jose Castillo, 2B Ian Snell, P
Cubs vs. Snell: No Cubs with more than 10 Ab's	Pirates vs. Guzman: No Pirates with more than 10 AB's

The Cubs activated Derrek Lee from the 15-day DL and optioned Buck Coats back to AAA, although I'm sure we'll see him again this weekend when rosters expand. That gets rid of one more wart on our starting lineup. Let's see what we can do about Bynum and Cedeno now.

Another day, another rookie pitcher. Good news is I think I saw Joe Morgan doing the Little League World Series so hopefully he won't be doing tonight's game. Little victories. Jae-kuk Ryu was optioned back to Iowa to make room for Walrond for some reason. Kerry Wood was transferred to the 60 day DL to make room for Walrond on the 40-man if your keeping track of such things. Go Cubs! GAME ONE HUNDRED--THIRTY IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (54-75 (Div) 5th - 14.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 12.0 GB) AT ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (68-60 (Div) 1st - 0 GB; (Wild Card) 1st - 0 GB) Busch Stadium, 7:05 pm CDT Weather: Partly Cloudy, 85 degrees, Wind out to CF @ 7 mph TV: ESPN Radio: WGN, XM 187

Jeff Weaver, RHP (NL Only) 2-3 5.74 ERA, 42.1 IP 21 K, 14 BB, 10 HR 309/367/530 against	Les Walrond, LHP (AAA) 10-5, 3.98 ERA, 133.1 IP 104 K, 59 BB, 11 HR 267/350/403 against
*Juan Pierre, CF *Freddie Bynum, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Jacque Jones, RF Michael Barrett, C *John Mabry, 1B Matt Murton, LF Ronny Cedeno, SS *Les Walrond, P	Preston Wilson, RF *Chris Duncan, LF Albert Pujols, 1B Scott Rolen, 3B *Jim Edmonds, CF Juan Encarnacion, RF Ronnie Belliard, 2B #Aaron Miles, SS Gary Bennett, C Jeff Weaver, P
Cubs vs. Weaver: Jacque Jones: 8-27, 296/345/407, 2 K, 2 BB, 3 2B Phil Nevin: 7-25, 280/333/400, 7 K, 2 BB, 1 HR Juan Pierre:n 4-12, 333/333/500, 0 K, 0 BB, 1 3B John Mabry: 2-11, 182/250/455, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Aramis Ramirez: 2-11, 182/308/182, 1 K, 2 BB	Cardinals vs. Walrond: No Cardinals with more than 10 AB's

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Well Dusty is back at it. You've probably already read this quote in the comments or another paper but it's so mind-bogglingly idiotic, I'd thought I'd share it with you all:

"On-base percentage is great if you can score runs and do something with that on-base percentage. On-base percentage just to clog up the bases isnít that great to me." "I think the problem we have to address as much as anything is the home run problem. They have out-homered us 2-1 in our own ballpark. That's the bigger problem."

Well yeah, our offense has been pretty darn putrid this year, here are our ranks in a number of categories: 10th in Home Runs, 15th in Extra Base Hits, 12th in Slugging Percentage, 16th in On-Base Percentage and 16th in Runs Scored. You can definitely see where power has been a problem this year. And it's really hard to put your finger on why that's been a problem. I mean it seems like we're missing a solid thirty to forty home run bat in the lineup. Right now the Cubs stand at 128 homers on the year, add thirty home runs to that and we're fifth in homers. Where could that come from? Maybe the guy who finished third in the NL MVP voting last year? Maybe if we didn't replace him with zeroes, Neifi, Jerry and Mabry for the bulk of his absence, we'd be doing a little better in the power department. I don't know, call me crazy.Yeah it's been a problem in terms of not having the proper backups on the bench to fill Lee's role, a fault which lies equally on Baker and Hendry. I put this up in the comments but it's worth repeating. Here's the Cubs rank in a number of offensive categories since Dusty took over. (HR/XBH/SLG/OBP/Runs Scored) 2003: 8/7/11/13/9 2004: 1/1/2/11/7 2005: 2/2/2/11/9 2006: 10/15/12/16/16 Hmm, which number seems to be dragging down our runs scored every year, particularly in 2004 and 2005? I think it's pretty clear that OBP is what has brought our offense down and not the power so much. The loss of Lee this year was catastrophic, particularly when Dusty decided to try and win with pitching and defense despite not having many good pitchers. He had some power bat options like Restovich and Nevin when he arrived. Yeah, they're not glamorous, but if he really feels that power was lacking, don't go starting the likes of Mabry, Neifi and Hairston instead. Go far away Dusty!

A few quick notes... - Jake Fox will play some left field and first base when he goes to the AFL, along with right field and catching that he's already doing in AA. Grant Johnson was moved to the bullpen when he returned from the DL in June and it looks like that's where he'll stay. Reports are that his velocity is back in the low 90's. - Then there's this weird article from the Trib headlined: "Marmol's pitch count too high, Baker says". Baker says Marmol throws too many pitches early in a game but then says guys get put on the DL right away now when before they'd pitch through it. And here's a fun quote talking about Maddux throwing 167 pitches in a game early in his career:

"If I left somebody out there 167 pitches, you'd [criticize] me."

Is he saying that high pitch counts can lead to injuries (like in Marmol's case) or that pitchers today and their organizations are just wimps? Once again you baffle me Dusty. He also downplayed that whole USA Today article about Cubs fans being racist. As for our current Cubbies, nice to see the real Angel Guzman step up yesterday even if the offense couldn't crack the wife-beater(let me guess, the fans at the park didn't boo Myers?) for most of the night. Guzman's got the repertoire of a #1 pitcher and he just needs to get the experience that the last few years of injury took from him. The kids going to be good if he can stay healthy which you can probably say about 95% of top pitching prospects. Speaking of top pitching prospects, Cole Hamels and his 10.30 K/9 rate show up today. I wonder if him and old pal Lee Gwaltney (now in the Cubs minor league system) got together and toured the Wrigleyville bar scene this week. Have a few drinks, get in some fights, use your pitching hand to throw a punch and then get one of your friends released because he's a bad influence. It should be a fun pitching matchup, the over/under on Zambrano's walks today is 7. Get your bets in. Go Cubs! GAME ONE HUNDRED-TWENTY-SEVEN IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (64-62 (Div) 2nd- 13.5 GB; (Wild Card) 3rd - 1.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (53-73 (Div) 5th - 13.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 12.5 GB) Wrigley Field, 1:20 pm CDT Weather: Cloudy, 75 degrees, Wind out to CF @ 9 mph TV: WGN Radio: WGN, XM 187

Carlos Zambrano, RHP 13-5, 3.34 ERA, 177.2 IP 173 K, 98 BB, 19 HR 206/317/360 against	Cole Hamels, LHP 6-6, 4.40 ERA, 90 IP 103 K, 33 BB, 13 HR 237/304/423 against
#Jimmy Rollins, SS #Shane Victorino, RF *Chase Utley, 2B *Ryan Howard, 1B *David Dellucci, RF Chris Coste, C Joe Thurston, LF #Abraham Nunez, 3B *Cole Hamels, P	*Juan Pierre, CF Ryan Theriot, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Phil Nevin, 1B Matt Murton, LF Michael Barrett, C #Angel Pagan, RF Ronny Cedeno, SS #Carlos Zambrano, P
Phillies vs. Zambrano: Abraham Nunez: 2-17, 118/250/176, 3 K, 3 BB, 1 2B Jimmy Rollins: 3-14, 214/267/286, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 2B Jose Hernandez: 2-10, 200/400/200, 4 K, 4 BB, 0 XBH	Cubs vs. Hamels: No Cubs have ever faced Hamels

Hey look, Jones sitting versus a tough lefty. You go Baker!

So has there even been another baseball team with two Angel's on their team? Hmmm, I wonder. The Cubs march to a top five draft pick continues as they continue to help another team's quest for the playoffs. And if the Cubs fans who go to the games were any real kind of baseball fans, they'd go out and boo the hell out of Myers for taking some aggression out on his wife instead of poor fellas like Jacque Jones not even a month into a new deal. Go Angel, Go Cubs! GAME ONE HUNDRED-TWENTY-SIX IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (63-62 (Div) 2nd- 13.5 GB; (Wild Card) 3rd - 2.0 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (53-72 (Div) 5th - 13.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 12.0 GB) Wrigley Field, 7:05 pm CDT Weather: Cloudy, 88 degrees, Wind Out to RF @ 12 mph TV: WGN Radio: WGN, XM 187

Angel Guzman, RHP 0-3, 6.68 ERA, 31 IP 33 K, 23 BB, 3 HR 292/412/467 against	Brett Myers, RHP 8-6, 4.40 ERA, 141 IP 130 K, 48 BB, 23 HR 271/330/459 against
#Jimmy Rollins, SS #Shane Victorino, RF *Chase Utley, 2B *Ryan Howard, 1B Pat Burrell, LF *David Dellucci, RF Mike Lieberthal, C #Abraham Nunez, 3B Brett Myers, P	*Juan Pierre, CF *Freddie Bynum Aramis Ramirez, 3B *Jacque Jones, RF Michael Barrett, C *John Mabry, 1B* Matt Murton, LF Ronny Cedeno, SS Angel Guzman, P
Phillies vs. Guzman: No Phillies with more than 10 Ab's	Cubs vs. Myers: Juan Pierre: 13-34, 382/405/412, 1 K, 2 BB, 1 2B Aramis Ramirez: 4-12, 333/333/667, 4 K, 0 BB, 1 HR

Barrett's back in action, Bynum though is hitting second. With the good comes the bad. Wind is blowing out to right at 12 mph, get our your gloves when Howard and Utlley come up.

Game time is fast approaching but the Cubs made (another) roster move today as Ryan O'Malley found out what life as a Cubs pitcher is like pretty fast, hitting the DL with a "medial left elbow sprain". Jae-kuk Ryu has been called up to rid Wrigley of annoying pigeons that hang out under the grandstands. In other news, Will Carroll over at BP.com has heard some whispers that Prior's shoulder issues may be similar to Kerry Wood's. And well that rehabilitation process went really well. And is it the same injury that Wood had surgery for or the one that was just diagnosed? Unless the first diagnosis was a misdiagnosis, which in that case it's all the same injury. Carroll also teases us with this little bit:

Marcus Giles wonít return to the Braves lineup until the weekend. The Braves are expected to deal him in the offseason.

(Drooling) And Derrek Lee looked fantastic in batting practice the other day and reported none of the issues afterwards that he experienced the first time he tried to come back.