| First, the Cubs lose for the fourth time in a row. Second, the Cardinals win for the seventh time in a row. The Cubs, as a result are 7 games behind those damned Cardinals in the NL Central. Although little comfort, it is good to know that the Cubs are tied for the NL Wild Card. Regardless, the Cardinals are a respectable team to be chasing. They have players playing gold-gloove caliber ball right now, as well as a lineup that looks remarkably similar to the NL All-Stars' lineup. The real painful thing is the surprise pitching rotation in St. Louis. Guys that, for the most part, couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat (nice "Bull Durham" reference there) have been painting corners like folks on "Trading Spaces." They've gotten red hot. The turning point was a June 23rd. The Cubs trailed the Cardinals by 1 game in the NL Central standings. A win would obviously tie it. Going into the bottom of the 6th that day, the Cubs led 9-5. They wound up losing 9-10. Since that time, the Cardinals have gone 12-3 while the Cubs have gone 6-9. Ouch. The WGN guys mentioned this tonight, to my shock and horror. As Steve Stone said, "you hope that when your team goes through one of these natural lulls that the team your chasing doesn't get hot. Unfortunately for the Cubs, that's exactly what as happened." After being fairly upset at watch the game, which ending in a line-drive unassisted double play by Albert Pujols, I had to vent. Off to my Halo demo I went. As "The Bride" says in "Kill Bill, Vol. 2," "I went on what the film advertisements call a roaring rampage." This isn't even funny: As you might guess, I'm "MikePortnoy," in honor of one of my favorite all-time drummers. Pretty sad. One of them was even begging for mercy, for crying out loud. That made me feel better.I still hate the Cardinals. Maybe the arch will fall on Busch... |
