Well that was satisfying...

When your playoff hopes are in the dumper (the folks at fantasy land even seem to have finally realized this) - at least some measure of satisfaction can be had from sticking it to the Cardinals.

In spite of some miserable defensive lapses (e.g., Ramirez' poor decision to try for a double play instead of throwing home to prevent a run in the 6th; Garciaparra's error in the 9th...) the Cubs still managed to make this one look pretty easy. That's 5 of the last 7 the Cubs have taken from the deadbirds - a team that will make it to the playoffs, but will probably have a pretty difficult time against a solid Braves team.

Anyway - the Prior-Wood combo was exciting to watch. In fact, I thought Dusty should have left Wood in to pitch the ninth since he was only around 20-some pitches and was mowing down Cardinal hitters easily. Dempster made it somewhat interesting after the Garciaparra error eventually led to a score - but fat Albert weakly grounded out to Walker to end the game and the Cubs pulled out a nice series win.

Even though the Cubs are not in contention, it would be nice to play the role of spoiler against Houston. Although their pitching has been solid, their offense has been almost Cub-like as of late. Roger Clemens pitched a 2-hit shut-out for 8 innings Saturday night but, nevertheless, ended up with a no decision, and the Astros still managed to lose by a score of 1-0 after Jack Wilson hit a homer off Astro closer Brad Lidge in the 9th.

Sounds like the Cubs (except with better starting pitching).

Lets see what kind of heart this team has. A 3 game sweep would be just what the doctor ordered after a miserable sporting week in Chicago (and don't even get me started about the Rex Grossman/Jerry Angelo debacle).