I can't help but wonder how Harry Caray would've liked this year's Cubs team. What a shame he had to broadcast when the Cubs were usually terrible.
The hits keep coming for the North Siders. On Thursday, the Cubs beat the Braves, 3-2, in the 11th, when Reed Johnson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Whatever works.
Kerry Wood won the game, and also coming up big were Jim Edmonds, who hit a homer to tie the game late; Carlos Zambrano, who had a strong outing; and the bullpen, which pitched four innings of scoreless relief.
The performance of the bullpen, which before the season was a question mark, has to be a source of hope for Cubs fans. Wood's been great after a poor start. Carlos Marmol's been strong as well. The surprise has been the rest of the pen. The team ERA is 3.66, and the relievers have all been solid. Scott Eyre and Neal Cotts haven't allowed any earned runs.
Ryan Dempster is another surprise. He couldn't cut it as a reliever, but his ERA is 2.81, a bit better than Zambrano's 3.01.
Ted Lilly's been the weakest of the starters with a 5.13 ERA. Jason Marquis' ERA is 4.54, which is acceptable. You wonder if the Cubs will make a move. This is their year. This is the best Cubs team I've seen, and maybe the best ever.
The Cubs are 43-24, the best in the majors. Unfortunately, people are starting to look at the Cubs and say they're the team to beat. Forget all the expectations. Forget about all the years of futility.
And speaking of futility, we have the Braves on the road. Atlanta's 7-24 away from Turner Field. Ouch. The team's now lost six straight.
Chipper Jones is hitting .414, by the way. He went one for five, and his average dipped five points. Poor guy.
Keywords: Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs
