Tease

I'm starting to hate this Cubs team. I think I'm starting to hate them because I know what will happen if I start to love them. They are a cock tease of the highest level. They start playing like a team on Wednesday and play like crap on a Thursday. The Big Hole batting 4th goes from team player to a Golden Sombrero.

The brightness was Donald Corey Patterson. The guy has gone 2 straight games without a strikeout. Stat of the day: That ties for his longest such streak of the year. I was afraid after his dinger yesterday he'd revert to swings that generate more wind than Charlie. Nope. He played within himself. I liked the move to leadoff because it was a message to Corey to forget about hitting third. About a week into the experiment he reverted to his norm. And failed. Now he's back to what he was on August 1. Here it is, Donald: KEEP DOING EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

And what about Matt Clement. While he is a solid pitcher, I'm more than willing to let him go to play a rookie and keep Nomar and possibly get a Carlos Beltran. He just seems to have a negative aura about him. He's like Schleprock from the Bam-Bam/Pebbles-as-teens cartoon from the late 70's. He attracts losing.

Bottom line. Losing 4 of 6 to the teams chasing you for the last playoff spot isn't the way to get it done. Cubs vs. Dodgers, San Diego vs. Cinci. Cubs will be lucky to have the Wild Card lead come Monday.