Sorry for the lack of posts all...
but work is keeping a brother down!
I hope the Cubs widget I added has kept you up to date.

In the meantime, let's recap:

The Cubs acquired right hander Rich Harden from the A's, along with Chad Gaudin in a trade that sent pitcher Sean Gallagher and outfielder Matt Murton, and Minor Leaguers Eric Patterson and Josh Donaldson off to Oakland. Good trade from both perspectives, the A's are looking towards the future and see a lot of good in what these 4 can potentially bring to their ball club. They're not in the central division now... so I wish them the best.

Hardin will get his first ever start today for the Cubs as he gets his first start in game 2 against the San Francisco Giants... a familiar foe for Hardin, so expect good things. Game time was bumped up to 12:05 pm today, earlier than originally scheduled. Do miss it! I'm certain Wrigley will give him a proper welcome he deserves. Hopefully he can catapult us a little closer to another series sweep, something we could definitely use given the streaking Brewers. Had it not been for those 7 homers (8 if you count Adam Dunn's homer twice) we gave up to the Reds we'd be in a little better shape (that Brew crew just don't want to lose... dammit), but when you go 2 for 3 in a series, there really isn't much room for complaints.

Speaking of homers, Jason Dubois down in the triple-A wasn't taking it easy the other night. Hitting 3 homers in consecutive at-bats and batting in 4 runs, you can pretty much say he single-handedly won the game that night in the 5-2 win over the Rock Round Express. Impressive stuff.

Not to be outdone, Aramis Ramirez gave the Cubs a much needed victory in yesterday's ball game, with a dramatic 3 run homer off the first pitch in the bottom of the 8th inning. Equal credit is due to Jason Marquis who pitched one hell of a game, giving up no runs in seven innings, yet still didn't get the benefit of a win in his column. Too bad, so sad.

Which reminds me... I can't begin to tell you how CLOSE I was go going to that game. Work got me lost and looking in Chicago with a crane hook-block destined for a customer. At one point I realized how close I was to Wrigley and just saying "fuck it" for the day and sitting and watching baseball and drinking Old Styles... in reflection: I wish I had chosen the latter.

And finally, in more roster changes for the weekend the Cubs called up Kevin Hart and sent Michael Wuertz down to Triple-A Iowa. Per MLB.com, Wuertz was 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA, and on Thursday, gave up four runs on four hits and one walk over 1 1/3 innings in relief against the Cincinnati Reds. "It's not easy to tell anybody they're going down, especially a veteran pitcher who's been here for a while," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "[Wuertz] needs to work on things, and he'll be able to do that."

This is Hart's third stint with the big league team. He was 2-1 with a 6.62 ERA in 12 relief appearances so far. At Iowa, the right-hander was 2-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 10 starts, including a 2.51 ERA in four starts since returning to Iowa for his recent stint. The Cubs had considered adding a position player for the final three games before the All-Star break. Instead, lefty Sean Marshall stays in the bullpen. On Thursday, Piniella used Carlos Zambrano as a pinch-hitter but will try to limit the pitchers' at-bats.

"I'm a little concerned about sending pitchers up to pinch-hit, to be honest," Piniella said. "They sit here [on the bench] and they're not entirely stretched. I'd have a lot of questions to answer if somebody got hurt doing that. I don't like doing it. We'll do the best we can for the final three games."

In Lou we Trust...
Now do get those Giants!