The Chicago Cubs are back in first place in the NL Central. Their fifth straight win and seventh of their last eight games, combined with an Astros loss leap frogs the Cubs back up on top. Sammy Sosa hit another homer and had two RBI. Aramis Ramirez now has 90 RBI and the "Sausage Man" (courtesy of Baseball Tonight ), Randall Simon had two homers and five RBI.

The Cubs made some great acquisitions to help on this stretch run and they are really paying off. Dusty Baker knows how to keep them in the game and big arms like Prior, Wood (who won today) and Zambrano keep them in most games. Borowski has been great as a closer. There are a couple of dozen games to go, but the Cubs are in excellent position to win the division.


This has been one of the hardest seasons to predict as teams alternate between swoon and swagger. The Marlins and Phillies both had stretches where they lost nine of ten to let the pack catch up to them in the wildcard race. The Marlins and Phillies both then reel off eight wins out of ten. The Marlins are getting great pitching and have great spirit and refuse to concede to the hot Phillies who now seem to all be on the same page.

What was great for the Marlins today was to see Dontrelle Willis pitch a great game to get his 12th win. The critics were quick to point out how he faded a bit after the AllStar Break, but the man is 12-6 as a rookie and that translates to a great season. The jury is still out though as to whether the Marlins can stay in there without Mike Lowell. Conine was a big boost though despite a slow start.


David Wells proved he wasn't done today with a saving performance for the staggering Yankees. The Red Sox had totally blown the Yankees away for two games and one more win would be a statement and bring the Sox to within a half game of the lead. A two game swing occurred as the Yankees pulled out today's game to finish the series two and a half games up.

The Yankees are trying to hold on despite a series of injuries to key players. Giambi hasn't been the same since getting hit by a pitch on his hand. Soriano is banged up the same way from the Pedro Martinez hit by pitch. Jeter has been banged up all year and Bernie Williams has a bad knee.

Mariano Rivera seems to be back on track and his last two saves against Boston have featured retiring Nomar Garciaparra in men-on-base situations. Rivera's 33 saves despite missing the first third of the season is a testament to his ability and the amount of close games the Yankees play.

Boston is still a very, very scary team!