JEFF’S CHICAGO SPORTS BLOG – THE CHICAGO CUBS SEEM TO BE PUTTING EVERYTHING TOGETHER
JEFF’S CHICAGO SPORTS BLOG – THE CHICAGO CUBS SEEM TO BE PUTTING EVERYTHING TOGETHER
The Cubs are playing terrific baseball now and have won nine consecutive games on the road blazing their way to 28 games above .500 easily having the best record in the National League. What’s interesting about this latest win is that the Cubs are now finding all kinds of different ways to win games. They have won five straight games and 8 of their last ten. They now have a .500 record on the road which is amazing since it wasn’t too long ago they were nine games under .500 on the road.
Their success isn’t relegated to just one or two areas of the team but rather a collection of positives as the season winds down. Their starting pitching remains very strong despite ace right-hander Carlos Zambrano struggling in his last two starts. The hitting has come on very strong and has put up 35 runs in four games on this road trip. The bullpen has been very solid and the defense has been stellar with the Cubs only committing two errors on this road consecutive winning streak.
Manager Lou Piniella had concerns about this current road trip with the weather in Georgia and Florida as well as the temptations of being in South Florida in particular. The Cubs are still pursued by the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals with each team having had similar success in their last ten games like the Cubs. The Brewers have won 7 of their last ten while the Cardinals have won six of their last ten. Nevertheless the Brewers are now 5.5 games behind the Cubs and Cardinals are 7.5 games back.
With the Cubs playing the majority of their August games at home it will be important for them to build on their lead since in September the Cubs are on the road for the majority of the month. In fact sixteen of their twenty-five games in September are on the road thus the importance of the recent success enjoyed on the road. The Cubs are red-hot right now; let’s hope they aren’t peaking too soon.
JEFF ARDITO & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO
