Bruiser Chong

The Reds better thank god they're hitting so well, because their defense is offensive. I've gotta believe that's going to catch up to them eventually.

And the streak's over. I'm no Giants fan, but I was hoping they'd pull it out just because it was such a tight situation.

By the way, the D-Backs have the winning run on third with one out. The Giants' streak may be over.

*loads gun* Now stand very still. This will only take a moment.

I doubt Corey will become disliked as much as Alfonseca, since Corey has shown many times before the kind of potential he's got. He's still a young kid, too, so he's going to get better. It may sound like I'm covering for the guy, but I'm just point out the facts. I think he'll get better but until then, he's going to go through this growing pains and the fans (myself included) are going to have to be a bit more understanding. There's really no excuse to strike out twice with the bases loaded and the chance to put your team ahead, but that's just baseball sometimes. And let's not say they lost because of the Lee error. Farns had Ausmus right where he wanted him and had he thrown him one more fastball, that wouldn't have happened, since Brad had nothing on him. As it was, he decided to get cute with him, Walker made a bad throw and Lee took his foot off the base. Good teams overcome calls that don't go their way. The Cubs didn't do that tonight. Simple as that.

Cubs lose and I for one think that's what's best. I love them, but when you squander not one but two bases loaded nobody out situations and don't capitalize in the least on either one, it's your fault. Corey can be great with the leather and good with the bat on occassion, but until he learns to stop swinging at everything, the Cubs are in some trouble. Their lower third of the batting order is just death most of the time and that was quite clear tonight. I figured if they wanted to take two of three, tonight was the night to win, since Clemens is on the mound tomorrow.

Rolen just got DRILLED in the head...and got right back up and ran to first.

Tomorrow's going to be a big hitter's game between the Cubs and Stros, considering the two starters. Wednesday should be a dandy of a pitcher's showdown, unless Clement decides to start hitting every batter in sight.

Manny strikes out way too much in comparison to Pujols to be considered a superior hitter. Look at Albert's numbers right now. That's a slump for him. No contest on this one.

I can't tell you how much might heart sinks every time someone hits a flyball off Joe Borowski. Luckily, this one was a routine out to close out the game. Great pitcher's dual we had today.

And...two big errors. Marlins lead! Marlins lead!

Pettitte's heading back to the DL because of the forearm strain.

Boston fans boo the hell out of Lowe as he bleeds to death on the mound. What's the logic behind keeping him in there any longer? It's obvious that his open blister is affecting his pitching.

I think either team from the East is going to have trouble with LA, but at this point, it looks like Detroit would put up the best fight, as they don't have two starters with injuries that aren't going to get better until they get a couple months off.

Color me a bit surprised there. Although, once take the Cubs' numbers with a grain of salt, since they'd probably be in the top 5, if not leading it, if they had Prior going instead of Mitre. Sergio's only averaging in the 80s because he self-destructs by the fifth inning every time out.

Regardless of whose fault it is, Beckett's been placed on the DL. Good news for Phillies fans.

Finally the Cubs snap the losing streak and in grand fashion, tacking on seven runs in the 9th and keeping 12 Pirates baserunners from scoring, en route to a 12-1 win. Zambrano wasn't as sharp as we've seen him, but still did well all things considered. The pen was lights out in three innings of work, not allowing any baserunners. But I think fans of both teams will agree that the umpiring was shoddy this afternoon. Tossing Johnson in the 9th was a ridiculous call. I guess the ump didn't consider how absurd it'd be for the pitcher to intentionally hit a guy with two outs to load the bases for one of the best Cubs hitters, especially when he had done so well to work out of early trouble.

I don't recall asking if you complained much, I just asked if you would be mad when a guy on the opposing team got hit, clearly swung and the homeplate ump wouldn't even allow an appeal down to first. At the time, it loaded the bases, so that just added on to the annoyance. The Bucs have left 11 men stranded today, which is an indication of either Zambrano's luck or his ability to get out of jams.

Well, if the Red Sox had been playing like the Cubs have been lately, wouldn't you be mad if the homeplate ump wouldn't even allow an appeal down to third after the opposing batter was hit but took a full swing, subsequently loading the bases? That's just something I've never seen before and didn't even think an ump could get away with such a thing.

What the hell is up with these idiot umps? Ward gets hit on the leg by a Zambrano pitch (yeah, big surprise), but he clearly swings at it, but the ump awards him the base anyway. Barrett immediately asks for an appeal down to the third, but the jackass won't even allow that. What's that crap? If he hits the guy, fine, but if he swings at it, you have to at least let them make the appeal. Ridiculous. You know it's bad when the Pirates' announcers are completely on the Cubs' side.

The Pirates should probably be blowing out the Cubbies at this point, since they've had back-to-back innings where they had multiple runners on with less than two outs and have only come up with one. And what's Craig Wilson's problem? I know the Cubs have been beaming the Bucs like crazy in this series, but you should probably try and move if a ball's coming at you. This idiot's shocked that he gets hit if he just stands there.

I come from a pretty musical family (my mom and dad met while working in the same music story way back when), but I've only tried the drums, which I haven't played in a couple of years. I wasn't too bad, but I didn't have the interest in it to invest the time needed to become great at them. Everyone else in my family plays many instruments well, though. My dad played guitar, piano, accordian (that was always the embarrassing one), and several more, while my mom, who's a music teacher now, plays the piano and guitar. My younger brother is great at the sax and has been playing piano and guitar for about a year now.

The Giants have been impressive since their series in Chicago a couple of weeks back. Unlike the beginning of the season, not everything on the offensive end is being put soley on Bonds' shoulders. They're actually driving in the key runs at the right moments and while Bonds is in the thick of it, those around him are starting to pull their own weight. With Scmidt on the mound today and Colorado on the other end, I can see them making it nine straight.

I'm all about Cop Land and Summer School this week, for sure. I'll eventually pick up Monster once all this new release madness dies down a bit, and perhaps one or both of the new NBA Dynasty sets. And with Circuit City's $9.99 special this week, I think I'll take them up on King of New York and perhaps Forrest Gump, finally.

Here's some useless trivia: the Cubs and Astros have already surpassed their longest losing streak of 2003, which was four games for both clubs. Interestingly enough, their longest losing streaks this year were five games each. Of course, the Stros finally broke theirs this week...against the Cubs. And the Cubs still need to break theirs, but if they don't, the next team they'll get the chance to do so against...the Astros. Bruiser Chong: Digging up useless stats to make himself feel better or worse about the Cubs' losing ways since 1:50 A.M.