Not Good Enough

Yes, they won last night. Yes, Nomar Garciaparra had another clutch hit and an RBI. Yes, Kerry Wood looked Ginsu sharp. Yes, the Cubs regained a tie for a playoff spot. And, yes, the Cards blew a ninth inning lead to one of the worst teams in baseball.

But the Cubs may have hurt themselves last night for today.

They had Jeff Fassero on the ropes. One more hit by Derrek Lee and Fassero's out of the game and the Cubs get to chew away at bullpen pitchers. Instead, the Cubs shell up and get one stinkin' hit after the second inning.

When you get a starting pitcher on the ropes, you have to put him down and out, especially in game one of a series. Eating up a pen in game one can make game two much easier if the opposing team has a short bullpen.

The Cubs could have burned 6 innings off 3 or 4 pitchers last night. Instead, they burned two innings off one reliever. That better not come back to haunt them today.

This team still needs to get better before I'll be a born-again believer.