Cubs End Offensive Skid, Get Bitten by the Injury Bug Again

It’s been a week for the Cubs: they haven’t been able to hit a lick, plus their star players keep getting nipped by the injury bug.  Going into Sunday, the Cubs had lost four straight, mustering only 6 total runs in that quartet of games; in the same stretch, they lost both Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Marmol to injury, and saw Milton Bradley limited to pinch-hit duties as he continues nursing a hammy that’s almost as bad as his attitude.  Sunday looked like it was off to a much better start, though, when Derrek Lee drove in two runs to give the team a 3-0 1st inning lead on Todd Wellemeyer and the Cardinals.  Unfortunately, bad news followed on the heels of good:  Lee was removed from the game right after his run-scoring hit, stricken with neck spasms, and was replaced at first by Micah Hoffpauir.  The sense of doom was ameliorated though by the Cubs’ bats, particularly that of Kosuke Fukudome, who contributed 3 hits and 5 RBI to a 10-run winning effort against St. Louis.  And it didn’t hurt to have Rich Harden give up only 2 runs in 6 innings to raise his record to 2-1.

The Cubs needed this win badly, especially with all the bad feeling that’s been setting in over the injuries, the lack of offense, Lou having to juggle the line-up, and Milton Bradley’s unaccountable campaign to make the Chicago fans and media hate his guts.  We don’t need any dark clouds descending this early in the season.  Let’s hope Derrek’s injury isn’t too bad.  Thankfully, it looks like Aramis and Carlos might be back in action by the middle of the week.