On a roll

I was out of town visiting Ed's parents and grandparents in New York over the weekend, so I wasn't able to update my blog with the Cubs sweep of the Brew Crew last week in Milwaukee.

It was, in two words, total domination. Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden followed Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano in shutting down a potent Brewers offense. After the Cubs beat the Pirates yesterday 8-5 (thank God for Reed Johnson, who broke a 5-5 tie in the eighth with a two-run homer) and the Brewers' 5-0 loss to the Braves, the Cubs now own a 5-game lead on the Brewers and a 6-game lead on the Cardinals.

It's definitely a season to remember. If there ever was a year for the Cubs to win the National League pennant, this is it. The NL East is a crapshoot among the Mets, Phillies and Marlins, and the teams on top in the NL West are barely above .500. But watch out for the Dodgers. If Manny is Manny, he's going to bring a lot to that offense, which was definitely lacking. Ramirez had a huge opening weekend, hitting better than .600.

But we'll worry about that come late September and early October.

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Reed Johnson photo courtesy AP