Three days, three dominating performances by the Cubs against Milwaukee this weekend. The Cubs went into this series as losers of five of their previous six games; however they leave it on a three game winning streak.
5-1
8-1
12-2
Total: 25-4
Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly (first start off DL), and Randy Wells were all tremendous in shutting down the high powered Brewers offense that put a 20 spot on the Pirates earlier in the week. Each pitcher, even Lilly who was on a tight pitch count, was able to get through at least six innings. In today’s game where bullpens frequently get overused and worn down, starting pitchers that can get deep into games are invaluable. The Cubs have numerous pitchers that are doing this right now, and it was certainly on display over the weekend.
The major difference though between these three games and many of the others this season was the hitting. There were contributions from all over the lineup as they racked up 41 hits and 25 runs during the series. Ryan Theriot came alive with five hits today raising his season average up to .329. Tyler Colvin and Kosuke Fukudome each had three hit games including a homerun by each player.
The Cubs (9-10) will return to Chicago tomorrow, back into the comfort of the friendly confines for a three game series with the Washington Nationals (10-9.) The Nationals are off to their best start in forever and appear to be greatly improved from a year ago. Washington is coming off taking two out of three from the Dodgers over the weekend. Here are the probables for the series:
Game 1: John Lannen LHP (1-1, 5.82) vs. Carlos Silva RHP (2-0, 0.95)
Game 2: Livan Hernandez RHP (2-1, 0.75) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (0-2, 2.40)
Game 3: TBA vs. Ryan Dempster (2-0, 2.60)
It should be an interesting week as we get to see the Carlos Zambrano experiment begin to unfold.
