Boxscore

So this first battle for first place in the NL Central this year was pretty much dead on arrival, and not in the way I expected.

While the Cubs are busy trying to sweep the Reds, the Brewers (8-6) thought it would be a great time lie down for the Cardinals (11-4).

Adam Wainwright (2-1) continues to impress. Oscar Villanueva (1-2) doesn’t. Jason Isringhausen (S 6) got his sixth save, in thrilling fashion! Of course, the thrill was all self-created as he allowed two runs in the 9th to make an easy save look closer. But like so many other ninth-inning specialists, that is typical.

The Cardinals bring the brooms to Busch today at 12:15pm CDT, as Manny Parra goes against Kyle Lohse.

Boxscore

Along the same lines as the advice of “never start a land war in Asia” is the lesser known “Never spot Brad Penny a 4 run lead”. The Pirates (7-8) succeeded in not doing the former, but failed at the latter. And for good measure, they let the Dodgers (7-8) add on two more in the second.

Brad Penny (2-2) got the win, with Paul Maholm (0-2) getting shelled in the loss. The lone bright spot for the Pirates might have been that Nate McLouth got another hit, extending his hitting streak to 15 games.

The Pirates take Thursday off to travel to Chicago where they’ll face the Cubs on Friday at 2:20pm CDT. Ian Snell will go against Rich Hill.

Boxscore

Wasn’t that a fun game? Highly entertaining and humorous in every way. I don’t know if it’s my recaptured ability to laugh at the Reds’ ignorant attempts to become a legitimate baseball team or if it’s just the beauty of having Dusty Baker back in Wrigley. Either way, we all win. Or at least I do. And the Cubs.

To the game, the Reds (6-8) lost their fourth in a row to the Cubs (8-5). Aaron Harang (1-2) wasn’t his usual self, giving up two home runs and not really giving his team a chance to win. Sure, one of the homeruns was to Derek Lee, which will happen, but the other was to Mark DeRosa. That’s a sign that something’s wrong, and Harang did report he was a little under the weather after the game. I don’t know if the sickness caused or was caused by the homerun.

Ryan Dempster (2-0) has obviously been captured by robots or aliens or something and replaced with someone who can pitch because he continued to not look like the Dumpster of every year. Well, that’s not true. He did allow 4 runs in 6 innings, which just misses a quality start. Still. He’s had inexplicable early season success.

No save was available for the game thanks to the laughable appearance of the Reds’ 2007 bullpen. Great to have you back!

The two traveling comedy troupes perform the antics for our laughing pleasure again today at 8:05pm EDT. Josh Fogg starts against Carlos Zambrano.

Boxscore

Well, that settles that. I guess we can call off the season now.

In the first battle for first place of the season, the Cardinals (10-4) easily handled the Brewers (8-5). Apparently, the key to defeating the Brewers is to walk Prince Fielder every time.

Who knew Braden Looper (3-0) was so mighty? He’s looking like Cy Young right now with his 2.70 ERA. Way to go Cardinals. Ride that unexpected goodness as long as you can. Dave Bush (0-3) got the loss for the Brewers, although he did turn in a quality start. It doesn’t help much when your team scores only one run.

The two play again today. Hopefully Milwaukee will win so that the final game of the series will be another first place battle. Gametime is 7:15pm CDT. Carlos Villanueva versus Adam Wainwright.

Hey, this is fun. Byron from one of our favorite Cubbie blogs, Goat Riders of the Apocolypse, initiated a little exchange of team wisdom leading up to tonight’s battle. Here are his answers to the questions I sent him. See also: my answers to his questions.

Q1: Kosuke Fukudome is off to a good start, but is he $48 million good? Are the Cubs better off with him than they would have been with four $12 million contracts over 4 years?
As long as Fooky stays healthy, yes, he’s $48 million good. Or at least $48 million on a $100+ million club, good. I’m not sure I would build a team around him at that price, but if you’ve already got Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Carlos Zambrano inked to long-term deals, then Kozuke’s a good addition for $48 mm. And no, the Cubs have several $3-$4 a year type guys on the roster already. The problem is that there are only so many slots on the roster, and you’ve got to get significant (abover average) production out of some of those slots. You could try to bring up young guys… but the Cubs are better at paying proven talent.

Q2: How long until Kerry Wood is injured?
I’m going out on a limb here and predicting a healthy year this year. Now next year, after he’s pitched five days in a row at one point in September to get us to the post-season… well, we’ll get to next year when it comes.

Q3: Do you think the team has what it takes to keep Carlos Zambrano hydrated in the long-term?
At this point, hydrated-Carlos sucks, so we’re gonna start puncturing IV bags in the clubhouse. I vote to give him his caffeine and Red Bull back, and that Larry Rothschild just makes sure he drinks some Gatorade every other inning.

Q4: Ryan Dempster? Jason Marquis? WTF?
Ryan Dempster looks like Cy Young so far. Steroids? (I jest.) Jason, the Marquis de Suck? We’re still trying to figure out why Jim Hendry ever though signing Marquis would be a good idea. And Dempster, that one’s a head scratcher. He was a decent reliever who had a good starting season in 2000. Jon Lieber has won 20 games more recently that Dempster had a good season as a starter… but apparently Dempster’s got enough pull to muscle his way into the rotation, and so far, we can’t complain.

Q5: Is this the year?
Probably not. We are really thin in terms of playoff quality starting pitching. The other teams that look poised to make playoff runs in the NL all have more top-line depth on the mound, and so we’re in for a repeat of last year. A playoff appearance, and an opening round loss. Now if Dempster or one of the other pitchers has a career year, then we could conceivably crown this year as “the year,” but I’m not holding my breath.