Cubs Even the Series

Ted Lilly is good, and that sucks. Really, he’s good.  Seriously, that sucks.  Lilly kept the Cardinal hitters off balance all night, lasting eight innings, giving up just one run on five hits.  He was brilliant.  To me, he looks hittable.  I guess to Major League hitters, he’s not.

So you’d think that Lilly’s dominance was the difference in the game.  You’d be wrong.  Blame it on the Cardinals’ defense.  The Cards committed two errors, both by Felipe Lopez at third, but they had several other defensive miscues, and it clearly cost them the game.  Only one of the Chicago’s four runs was earned, and the Cardinals lost the game 4-3.  Here’s the full recap and box score.

I took note of a few other things in tonight’s loss:

•  Jason Motte still kicks ass.
•  Josh Kinney was awesome.  Welcome back.
•  Ryan Ludwick now has 33 home runs.
•  Cubs pitchers and balks go hand in hand.
•  Josh Phelps shouldn’t play in left field.

Chances are, since you’re reading this, you follow the Cardinals as closely as I do. I’m sure you were scoreboard watching, and noticed that although the Phillies lost to the Marlins, both the Brewers and the Astros won tonight, which is bad news for the Redbirds.  The Cardinals have now fallen to fourth place in the NL Central, trailing the Cubs by nine games, and 4.5 games back in the Wild Card race.

Yesterday was great.  Tonight was horrible.  That’s the way it goes, I guess.  One thing is for sure, though, the National League Central can no longer be considered a weak division.

So, tomorrow is another day.  It’s the rubber game of this heated rivalry.  Todd Wellemeyer gets the ball for the Cardinals.  Rich Harden will take the mound for the Small Bears.  A Cardinal win is imperative for their playoff hopes. Go Cards!