May 29, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney (15) forces out Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez (10) during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Good

In short? A sweep of the three games against the Sox that could have easily been four had game two not been rained out. The Cubs pounded out 31 hits in three games and dumped 24 runs on the South Siders. The offense brought out their big whooping sticks, as they hit seven home runs. Of those long balls, highlights included Julio Borbon’s first of the season, a three homer day by Dioner Navarro, and a grand slam by pitcher Travis Wood.

The Better

Speaking of pitchers, the starting rotation continued their run of excellence too. Ace Jeff Samardzija set the tone for the series with a complete game shut out in game one on the South Side. Scott Feldman continued to cement his July trade value with another quality start for his fifth win of the season, and Wood matched Feldman with a quality start and fifth win on top of his offensive contribution.

Despite a lack of hype to the series compared to years past, as evidenced by a lack of a sponsor for the silly Crosstown Cup, the Cubs certainly enjoyed the all Chicago match up. The North Siders saw their win streak hit four and comfortably won all three games. As an added bonus, the losses have put the White Sox in position in position for a bit of a tailspin after finally getting to .500 just ahead of the series.

May 30, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Travis Wood (right) is greeted by second baseman Darwin Barney (15), catcher Welington Castillo (53) and third baseman Luis Valbuena (24) after hitting a grand slam home run against the Chicago White Sox during the fourth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

From then on Woody pretty much stole the show, providing the exclamation point of the game and the series win with a grand slam of Sox starter Jake Peavy. The Cubs lefty unleashed his bat on fat 2-1 pitch and sent it just into the left field bleachers for the first salami by a pitcher since Jason Marquis did the same in Yankee Stadium a few years ago. Welington Castillo and Valbuena had singled ahead of Barney, who was hit by a pitch, to load the sacks for Wood. Nate Schierholtz added a solo job in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-1 Cubs before Konerko got to Wood again in the sixth, this time with a RBI double. Wood was pulled after six with the comfortable lead despite just 88 pitches thrown (56 for strikes) and collected six strikeouts as well. The all around effort earned Woody his fifth win of the season and kept his ERA at a stellar 2.75.

Zach Putnam made his Cubs debut by getting the last out of the seventh and Carlos Marmol tossed a perfect eighth as the former Cubs closer works to build up his trade value. Valbuena capped off his own honorable mention offensive day with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth to go 3 for 4 with three runs and a RBI. Kevin Gregg was given an inning of work after being starved of a save situation since May 12th in Washington. Since then the Cubs have transitioned from being on the losing end of a bunch of games to blowing out the Sox day after day. Unfortunately for Gregg, the near half a month without a save opportunity may have made him rusty, as he finally gave up his first earned run of the 2013 season. The veteran reliever was able to clean up his own mess and preserved a 8-3 victory for the North Siders.

The Cubs improved to 22-30 while making a bit of a statement in the manner with which they disposed of the White Sox. The North Siders now find themselves back out of last place, ahead of the Brewers by three games.

May 25, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Travis Wood (37) pitches during the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

The Reds eventually got to Wood via a sac fly RBI in the fourth, but the knockout blow came in the sixth. Wood walked Joey Votto and allowed a single before getting the first out. The Reds tied it with a RBI single up the middle by Todd Frazier before manager Dusty Baker called and got a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt to give the Reds a 3-2 lead. A RBI double and a RBI single later, the home team was up 5-2 and never looked back.

Rizzo doubled again in the eighth with one out and Ryan Sweeney walked with two outs to bring the tying run to the plate, but Welington Castillo flied out down the right field line to end the inning.

Wood’s streak of nine straight quality starts to begin the season came to end and the Cubs skid hit six losses. The past few days against the Pirates and Reds have really showed that the Cubs still have a ways to go to catch up to the top tier of the NL Central. The North Siders have made visible steps of improvement to close the gap from the 2012 season, but the boys in blue are not quite there yet.