Heil-Yeah! And No Need to Rename it the ‘L’illy Flag

Ted Lilly got his first win of the year and all is well in Cubville.  Monday night Zambrano picked up another win with seven strong innings, allowing only one run and looked absolutely dominant.  Not only physically, but mentally too, the way he looked hungry for even more success and more domination after every strike thrown and out collected.  Having a warrior like Zambrano pitching for your ball club every five days is such a treat to look forward to, in between starts.  He’s the type of personality I love having on this team.  His scuffle with Barrett in the dugout last year came from his passion for winning and it ended up being one of the things that sparked the Cubs to success last year.  That fire in his eyes is the type of thing that, once contagious, can really propel a team to their best start since 1975…huh, what do you know…exactly the position the Cubs are in after 20 games into the season.

The Mets’ Heilman couldn’t keep up with Zambrano and the Cubs hit him hard over and over…a theme that continued throughout the evening.  Even one of the Cubs’ least effective bats found a way to put an exclamation point on the team’s dominance when Pie hit a 3 run shot in the eighth to put the game away.  I haven’t enjoyed a home run like that since Opening Day when Fukudome went yard to tie it up.  Sure, any Cubs home run is exciting, but these two came for guys in moments I really wanted them to come through and exceed expectations…or to some degree, meet them.  I couldn’t have been happier for Pie when the ball found its way into the cage just over the ivy in right.  A great ending to a great game.

And then today…my goodness.  Not only does Lilly show signs of coming around and matching the results put up Demp and Big Z finally, but he even comes away with the win at that.  No ‘L’ flag for Ted today.  The Cubs’ bats are on a ridiculous streak and I LIKE IT.  Seriously, it’s hard to remember the last April that was this much fun to follow the Cubs.  Every single one of our starters today got a hit and six of the eight position players are hitting .300 or better.  What a rough couple games the Cubs gave Sosa there with Pie going yard after being in such a slump and then today Cedeno comes in and jacks him out of the park for a grand slam putting the game out of reach on a whole other level.  CEDENO.  Not Lee, not Ramirez…Cedeno.  Everyone is hitting.  I mean, look at this box score:

4/22/08

Chi Cubs	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Johnson, LF	4	0	1	2	1	1	3	.339
Pie, CF	5	0	2	0	0	0	4	.206
Lee, 1B	4	1	1	0	1	0	3	.353
Ramirez, 3B	4	1	1	0	1	0	3	.280
Fukudome, RF	3	2	3	0	2	0	0	.357
DeRosa, 2B	4	1	1	1	1	0	6	.309
Cedeno, SS	5	2	2	5	0	2	7	.345
Blanco, C	2	1	1	0	1	0	3	.357
b-Ward, PH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.077
c-Soto, PH-C	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	.317
Lilly, P	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.200
a-Fontenot, PH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.206
Howry, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
d-Murton, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	.111
Marmol, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
e-Marquis, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.250
Hart, K, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	36	8	14	8	8	3	33

Also, great to see Marmol lock down 2 more K’s and the Cubs get out with the win without wasting innings from Wood and get a chance to let him rest today.  The more days we can do that for Wood, the better. 

And now next up, Hill on the mound in the high altitude, higher expectation environment of Coors Field.  With all the recent success the Cubs have had to start the season including this five game win streak, Hill is going to be expected to continue to show signs he deserves to be one of our starters and to keep this thing going…especially when it comes to the bigger picture: the 10,000 all-time win mark for the Chicago Cubs.  Now, does that really matter in the long run for this season?  No, but it would still be a cool milestone for the organization to hit.   With all the hitting that is going on, I don’t expect it take very long to get there. 

Tomorrow night, a six game win streak and 10,000 all-time Cub wins is certainly not out of the question.  Go Cubs Go!