How Sweep it is

The Chicago Cubs pulled off their first big moment of the 2006 season after a 3-game sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals. I only hope that it not one of those why can't we play like "insert good moment here" all of the time.

The Cubs scored seven of their eight runs via the home run. Jacque Jones finally got his first hit as a Cub and it came on a 3-run bomb. Then, with Cubs trailing 4-3 in the eigth, the Cardinals pitchers walked Todd Walker, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. For the second straight day, Michael Barret came up huge. This time with a grand slam to right field that left the park.

The Cubs added another run on a Cardinal wild pitch and Ryan Dempster slammed the door in the 9th to give the Cubs an 8-4 victory.

A few observations of the week:
1. Cub pitching: Take away the first two games against the Reds and the Cubs starting pitching was pretty good in week one. Greg Maddux and Carlos Zambrano pitched very well in their starts this weekend. Sean Marshall was solid in first start. He made one big mistake against Scott Rolen and probably was squeezed behind the plate.

2. Tood Walker: Hopefully Dusty Baker has seen all he needs about who should start at 2B. He went 6 for 14 with three RBI. Walker's D has not been terrible and he really brings the offense some much needed OPS.

3. Bullpen: So far Jim Hendry's moves have paid off. Scott Eyre and Bob Howry have been solid, but it is too early to give the final verdict.

So, the Cubs are off to a 4-1 start and that is good. We all know better and should be very careful before we buy into the Cubs winning ways. The worst thing that could happen is for us to sweep the Cardinals and then go and get swept by the Reds.

Enjoy the win today and the Cubs have the another day off, so it will be sweet for two days. Enjoy your Monday.