If you have been reading the "Cubs 2008 Walk Watch" box on the right sidebar since I posted it on May 18 after the Cubs had drawn seven walks and scored all four of their runs in a 4-3 victory via hitters who had walked, yesterday was a significant day.

The Cubs drew five walks in their 10-6 win over the Diamondbacks, increasing the season total to 398 -- incidentally, that number leads the major leagues -- and surpassed the entire season total in Dusty "Hackmaster" Baker's last season as manager in 2006.

With sixty-one games to go.

The Cubs are still a bit short of the pace they'd need to break the club record (650 in 1975) -- they're on pace to draw 638 walks. But the patience they showed last night helped; Kosuke Fukudome is suddenly looking better, as he did in the first half of the season, and the Cubs worked deep counts much of the night.

Fukudome, of course, wasn't the offensive star -- that note goes to Reed Johnson, who singled and doubled and then in the 8th inning, hit a grand slam that put the game out of reach even when Lou trotted Bob Howry out there again. I'm not sure what's wrong with Howry -- either he's hurt or he's done, and no matter which it is, the Cubs have a decision to make. Perhaps they could put Howry on the DL and bring up Jeff Samardzija; this Tribune article suggests the Shark might be coming up, although not for Howry, but for the still-unavailable Kerry Wood:

He would give Lou Piniella another power arm to use in front of Carlos Marmol and Bob Howry if Wood is forced onto the disabled list for the upcoming series against the Marlins and Brewers.

"With a lot of guys you might have questions about, 'How's he going to handle [the pressure]?' " Cubs assistant general manager Randy Bush said. "But with [Samardzija], you just think he'll handle it well."

In the meantime, Lou is going to have to slot Chad Gaudin ahead of Howry -- I can understand why Lou sent Howry out there with a seven-run lead, because where else are you going to find out whether the guy can still pitch or not? Unfortunately, it meant that Marmol had to throw the 9th inning on a night when he'd probably have stayed in the bullpen.

Ted Lilly looked pretty good last night -- almost better at the plate than on the mound; he had a seeing-eye RBI single, tying the game at 2, in the Cubs' three-run fifth (after they had coughed up the 1-0 lead they had on Derrek Lee's first HR in 26 games), advanced to 2nd on a groundout by Alfonso Soriano (which gave the Cubs the lead), then stole third uncontested and scored on Ryan Theriot's groundout. It wasn't his best outing of the year, but it was good enough to give him his 10th win of the year, joining Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster in double figures.

Speaking of Soriano, do not underestimate the value of his return, even though he had just one hit and the RBI groundout. In Carrie Muskat's recap on the Cubs' website, Reed Johnson said:

"He makes it fun to come to work. I think everybody will say he's just a presence and a leader for us. Any time you have a guy like that out, it's tough on you."

Yeah, I know. Can't measure that on a stat sheet, etc. etc. etc. But you can't put numbers on the psychological lift every player wearing blue, red and gray last night got when they saw Soriano (who, admittedly, looked a little tentative in the field) in the starting lineup, something that also allowed Lou to shift things around and post some semblance of what's likely to be the lineup for the rest of the season. I like Fukudome hitting sixth, as he did last night, or seventh on days when Jim Edmonds is playing -- and Edmonds wasn't available last night, having a sore knee, though he probably would have sat against the LHP Doug Davis anyway.

So the Cubs come home still in first place, one game ahead of the red-hot Brewers, who have got to cool off eventually. (Right?) The Cubs' 37-12 home record will come in handy for the next 18 days, during which they will play 17 games, 13 of them at home.

Just WIN, baby.

You still being nice? :)

Be nice.

When Ted Lilly was last on the Bank Holding Company Field mound, this is what we saw:

I trust we won't see a repeat of either thing in that photo -- neither a Chris Young HR nor a Lilly tantrum -- tonight. Hey, Ted, some advice for you: whatever pitch you threw to Young that night -- and again in the first Cubs/D'backs meeting this year, when he homered again off you -- DON'T THROW IT AGAIN!

Today's Starting Pitchers

T. Lilly Cubs vs. D. Davis D'backs 9-6 W-L 3-4 4.49 ERA 4.14 114 SO 61 43 BB 38 22 HR 7 vs. Ari -- vs. Cubs

Doug Davis had a bout with thyroid cancer earlier this year, but it's apparently in remission. I'm glad Davis has survived cancer. Now go beat the daylights out of him tonight! Alfonso Soriano, who will (hopefully) be in the starting lineup tonight, is 5-for-14 (.357/.400/.571) with a HR against Davis.

The kicker about that photo? Chris Young is only 1-for-6 in his career during the regular season vs. Lilly. Yes, that one hit was also a HR, hit on May 9 at Wrigley Field, the only run the D'backs scored off Lilly that day, one of Ted's best starts of the season (he struck out ten).

Today's game is on CSN Chicago and FSN Arizona, on EI and at the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday (2007 version)

MLB.com Gameday (2008 version)

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Today's first pitch thread, as the last two nights, goes up at 8:30 pm CT, and the overflow comment threads will post at 10 pm and 11 pm CT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

When a game starts out like the previous day's, our catchphrase in the bleachers is, "Didn't we see this game yesterday?"

Depressingly, last night's 9-2 Cub loss to Arizona started out like Monday night's -- with the Cubs down 1-0 on a solo HR by a Diamondback hitter; this time, even earlier than Monday (first inning as opposed to fifth), but the ultimate result was the same.

Criticize all you want, but Jason Marquis did his job last night, allowing three runs in six innings. For most teams, that will keep your team in the game, and in fact, when he left for a pinch-hitter, the Cubs were down only 3-1. Even after Sean Marshall allowed two runs, the Cubs came back with one and entered the last of the 8th trailing only 5-2 -- a deficit they've overcome this season more than once.

Much as I like Kevin Hart's arm, the promise he showed last September seems to be gone -- with an ERA up to 7.91, it's time to get some more bullpen help. Perhaps one of the lefties Jim Hendry and the staff are scouting -- Ron Mahay of KC or Damaso Marte of Pittsburgh -- might be on the way before the end of this month.

One thing I was amused by in last night's telecast -- if you didn't see Bob Brenly's pregame interview with Ryan Theriot, Theriot called himself scrappy. Either he's been reading blogs, or... well, I don't know or what. Amusing, though.

But that's really not what I want to talk about here. Last night was another loss due in main part to the offense's failure -- they've scored more than two runs only once since the All-Star break. What I want to discuss is the game threads on this site getting out of control.

First, here's a little more perspective. First of all, Bank Holding Company Field in Phoenix has been a house of horrors for the Cubs ever since it opened. They're now 13-29 there (including the two playoff losses last year). Even Cub playoff teams (1998, 2-4; 2003, 1-2; 2007, 1-2) haven't played well in Arizona. Further, the Cubs still have the best record in the NL and maintain, despite the slide, a one-game lead over Milwaukee. And, if you check the right sidebar box titled "Best Starts By Cub Teams Since 1900" that I update every day, this team is 21st best through 100 games of the 109 Cub teams since 1900. That's pretty good, in my opinion... and it does NOT warrant the profanity and ledge-jumping and nastiness to other posters that I have heard about in the game threads. Most of you know that I'm not in the game threads during home games because I'm at the games, and often not there for later-evening games like last night's because I have to get up at 3:30 am to go to work.

I opened my email at 4 am today to find multiple messages from BCB readers complaining about the tone in the game threads. We are all frustrated at the play of this team right now. I've uttered a choice word or two myself -- to the TV, in the privacy of my home, or at the ballpark, but NOT to other people who feel the same frustration! I remind all of you of the words you saw when you signed up for this site:

When posting at this blog, please follow this one simple rule: Before hitting "post" to post your remarks, ask yourself: "Would I be embarrassed to say this in front of strangers who were physically present in the room with me and could respond to my face?" If the answer is "yes," then don't post. BCB encourages and welcomes all opinions, no matter how strong; however, personal attacks, vulgarity, and other uncivilized forms of expression are not welcome. Thanks.

Please. Keep the profanity down. I once wrote here, "I don't mind the occasional fuck", a statement that provided a large amount of levity, but I think you see the point. And be nice to others. We're all here for the same reason: because we love baseball and the Cubs and want to see them win. If you've followed baseball and this site long enough, you'll remember some other words I've written:

Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint.

This will turn around. Alfonso Soriano may be back tonight. Hang in there, everyone. The best is yet to come.

Carlos Marmol time!

I meant it: JUST WIN, BABY!

Just win, baby.