It can't get much sweeter than it was Saturday for Reed Johnson in Toronto.
The Jays released him in March, the Cubs picked him up and his three-run homer beat the Jays and Roy Halladay. The Cubs will need contributions from players such as Johnson, who's Alfonso Soriano's replacement in left field.
So far every move the Cubs have made has worked out. Jim Edmonds looked done, yet he's done a capable job in center field for the Cubs.
Jason Marquis, part of the bottom of the Cubs rotation, has won three in a row and lowered his ERA to 4.24. Other Cubs heroes included Derek Lee -- three for four with two runs -- and Edmonds, who went two for five with an RBI.
The bullpen is thin, and Bob Howry was less than stellar. He allowed a run in an inning's work and has an ERA of 5.08. Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood have been great, but Wood has always been injury-prone. If the Cubs falter down the stretch, the bullpen might be the reason. It wouldn't hurt the Cubs to get another pitcher, maybe more than one.
It's hard to complain about the production of the everyday lineup. Consider the averages: Johnson, .263; Kosuke Fukudome, .295; Lee, .286; Aramis Ramirez, .303; Edmonds. .227 (it's been rising steadily since he came over to the Cubs); Mark DaRosa, .305; Mark Fontenot, .239; Henry Blanco, .298 (great contribution from a second-string catcher); and Ronny Cedeno, .287.
All I can say to those numbers is: Wow. The team has great hitting and power. Considera few more numbers. The Cubs are hitting .283 while their opponents have hit .243. They've hit 74 homers to their opponents' 67. The team ERA is 3.63.
All well and good. But they can't seem to get any separation between themselves and the rest of the division. The Cubs are three and a half games up on St. Louis and eight on Milwaukee. The Houston Astros, which looked like a contender a month ago, are 10 and a half games back after losing three games in a row.
The second cause for the Cubs to worry is the schedule. The Cubs finish up at Toronto and them have road series in Tampa Bay and against the White Sox. What bad luck for the Cubs to have the Rays on the schedule the one season they're good.
As for the White Sox, the teams' rising fortunes have some believing an all-Chicago World Series is in the offing.
White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone said he put the odds of such an inter-city matchup at 50-50. He thinks the Cubs will win their division by eight to 10 games.
It should be one of the most anticipated matchups of the year. There's no love lost between the teams with the A.J. Pierzinski-Michael Barrett incident of a while back and Ozzie Guillen's rants about Chicago loving the Cubs more than the White Sox. He's a volcano ready to blow.
Cubs fans would love to see him blow after his team's blown out. We'll see what happens, but circle it on your calendar: June 20-22, Friday through Sunday.
Keywords: Chicago Cubs
