DeacCub

And no matter what happens today there may still be another game tomorrow. The Cubs lived through one of those in 1998.

He's sending them out there to get there work in, stay sharp, and yes to uphold the integrity of the series. He managed the exact same way versus the Mets. Do yourself a favor and go for a walk or something. Don't be a whiner. Let's see, no Lee, no Ramirez, no Soriano and somehow Pinella isn't doing enough to help the Brewers?

There is no strategy. As evidenced by last night's game. Like every team, the Cubs want to win. They may give some of their guys a bit of rest, but whoever plays is still trying to win the game. That'll be the case when they get to Milwaukee as well. Whoever wins the wild card will have earned it. And both of the contenders have three games against the Cubs after the Cubs have clinched homefield for the national league playoffs.

Today the Cubs rested almost all of their regulars - no Lee, no Ramirez, no Soto, no Theriot, no Soriano, no DeRosa today. Going forwartd the pitchers are all expected to take their normal turns in the rotation the rest of the season. Obviously they'll be on pitch counts that will be pretty strict. And most of the regulars are expected to be in action the last 4-5 games to tune up for the playoffs. Guess we'll see.

Attendance. Minnesota may have better teams, but their attendance sucks.Me suspects when the Twins have their shiny new ballpark that attendance will improve. The weather sucks in the great North of our fair land. When summer comes around no one in their right mind wants to go into the Metrodome to watch baseball.

Please tell me you have seen the movie - Animal House. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtP3whUbgZE

The Fukudome triple clip was the biggest blunder possible. If he catches the ball there is no way he stops the first run from scoring on the tag from third. Strong as his arm my be he isn't throwing anyone out while sprawled on the ground. At best he MIGHT hold the second runner from tagging. If he backs off and stops that ball from going to the wall he still concedes one run. But he avoids the disasterous result of the ball getting by him and a man on third with no outs and two runs conceded. It pretty much assured the Cubs a 4 run lead instead of a 2 run lead. And in a game like last night's every run is like an ounce of gold. Yost himself said that he misplayed the Ramirez drive - so enough there. On Fontenot he just got a horrible jump on the ball - which is a clear misplay. That one would have been caught by many left fielders. Great hitter. I'm sure he's a fair fielder. But Gold Glovers are the best of the best. Look at Soriano. He led the league in assists last year. No one in their right mind would call him a gold glover.

I have a very small sample size in terms of observation. But he made three fairly sizable blunders in the game last night alone. No errors, but on the balls hit by Fukudome, Ramirez and Fontenot he made very poor plays. Not the mark of a Gold Glove winner. The guy sure can hit though.

I don't think anybody predicted a domination either way this week--the media was looking forward to a series between two tightly-matched teams. And the reason why the Brewers have gotten so much press lately isn't necessarily that they picked up the best pitcher on the market; it's because they'd had the best record in baseball since late May. I don't see how you call the first game "domination". That game could have gone either way. Tonight you simply faced an ace who pitched like an ace. If Braun plays a couple of those balls differently tonight the game may never have gotten out of hand this evening.

I think Lou is treating this like a playoff game. He wants to assure the team gets out of town with the split at the very least. So he lets the good arm keep on throwing. I imagine he'll get pulled for the 9th.

Truly an original thought, although the downside is fairly obvious for both teams. Daryle Ward can go pound for pound with anyone - Fielder. Not to mention the fact Samardzija could come out in the first inning and put a 98 mph fastball in Braun's ear as retribution before sending Z out to do his thing. Seriously though in a brawl I'd take the Brewers over the Cubs.

It's not just one game. This was the best chance we have out of all 4 games. A loss tomorrow would be devestating. Its harder to take a loss like this when its at Miller Park and there are so many Cub fans there. It's sickening. I think that is a ridiculous exageration and I'm a Cubs fan. CC has been your best pitcher the few weeks, but historically several of the Cubs have hit him really well. He pitched a solid game last night. Just like Lilly did. Neither team has a ton of holes in the starting rotation. It isn't as if the rest of your staff are a bunch of lemons. So your odds tonight are just as good if not better than the odds were last night. Sheets is throwing. He's perfectly capable of shutting the Cubs down. Just like Zambrano could well toss a gem of his own. Neither team is playing the Pirates right now. These are two well matched teams. Last night Weeks and Torres and some timely Cubs' hitting cost you the game. Tonight? Who knows. Point being, I think the odds on each of these games are very tight.

Ok. Obviously a Cubs fan here. And I'm not here to flame. I'm just going to offer up my opinion of both deals. Typically people (the media especially) compare trades by just looking at the potential of the players exchanged. And that is really pretty short sighted. The Cubs and the Brewers are two totally different teams with different needs. Ditto for their trade partners. Let's be frank. On paper pre-trade the Cubs had a deeper pitching staff top to bottom. They also have a more consistent offense that isn't as reliant on the home run as the Brewers. Simply put the Cubs to assure themselves the ability to compete were better positioned than Milwaukee. And that fact enters into how both the Cubs and Brewers would approach any trade negotiation. The Brewers IMO made a brillant trade. If I were just comparing Harden to CC I'd take CC because he is more durable. So giving up a can't miss prospect for him makes sense. And it makes even more sense when you consider that CC is a more important piece of the puzzle for the Brewers than Harden is for the Cubs. The Cubs? The Cubs have made a move that shores up their pen further, offers them a spot starter and MAY give them a top line starter. It is clear they gave up less to get their haul. But when you consider not only the risk Harden presents but also the fact the Cubs were deeper from a personnel on the big league club than the Brewers, that makes sense. Simply put the Cubs didn't need Harden and Goudin as much as the Brewers could see they needed CC. And they no doubt approached their negotiations with this in mind. Ditto for your GM. Which trade is better in the traditional way the media compares things. Assuming all you care about is winning now - which I think is the correct view - I'd say the Brewers trade is significantly more impactful to the makeup of their team. CC will eat up innings, keep your pen more in the pen and will strike out a lot of guys - meaning your D gets upgraded by default. The real question though is whether the less glamorous move made by the Cubs in terms of what was given and given up did enough to keep the Brewers at bay. No one knows the answer to that question, yet. IF Harden stays healthy the answer is likely yes. If not, we still don't know. Bottom line - I don't think either team got fleeced. You gave up a top flight can't miss prospect. That's the price for you to try and win now. The Cubs gave up two average outfielders and a catcher who are replacable and a promising young pitcher who was surplus to need this year. They know it is a gamble and they didn't lay huge chips down on the table to make the bet. Appropriate. Each team went into this with their eyes wide open and made good exchanges for the risk/reward scenario given the current staff on their teams. Sure the Cubs gave up less. They also didn't have as much need and were taking more risk on the cornerstone player of the trade. I would applaud both GM's heartily. And let's face it. If the Brewers don't land CC, the Cubs might not make this move at all.