White Flag Time

Things have been going pretty well for the Cubs. They're currently sitting pretty at 12-6 after sweeping the Pirates for the second time this year, and are now in 1st place in the NL Central and a half game ahead of the Cardinals. This marks a huge shift from the way the Cubs started last year, when they were a mere 7-11 after their first 18 games and didn't get to 12 wins until May 2nd. They've also scored 28 more runs, drawn 31 more walks, and hit 7 more home runs in the first 18 games of this season as compared to last season. All of that is good enough for 1st in the NL in both average and OBP (all this is according to baseball-reference.com, as usual) The last couple of series against the Reds and Pirates have been particularly good for the Cubs' offense, as they've scored 9+ runs in 4 of the 6 games, despite Alphonso Soriano being played on the DL after the first game against the Reds.

Some people might be quick to dismiss the early success, because it's been mostly against bad teams (the Cubs have played the Brewers and Phillies, but are just 2-4 against them), but Cubs sweeps have been pretty rare in recent years against any team, and already sweeping the Pirates twice this year is extremely encouraging to me.

I was in attendance for the game on Wednesday against the Reds. I didn't get there until the game was already in the 3rd inning because I didn't leave until 6:00 and I-88 was packed and Josh Fogg was already being pulled from the game. Cubs ended up winning 12-3 on a gorgeous night. It was good times.

Update (4/22 ~2:00ish)

The Cubs kept the winning streak going last night, beating the Mets 7-1, getting 5 of their runs in the 8th inning, capitalizing off of a Jose Reyes error which began the inning. After loading the bases with no outs, Mark DeRosa struck out, and Geovany Soto popped out, seemingly setting up a huge wasted opportunity that were oh so common during the Dusty Baker era. But, lo and behond, Ronny Cedeno worked an at-bat that was something like 9 or 10 pitches before finally punching a single up the middle, then Felix Pie hit a 3-run pinch-hit home run. When things are going right, they're going right. Cedeno and Pie were two guys who weren't even guaranteed to be on the roster at the start of the year. Right now as I'm posting the Cubs are wrapping up the brief 2-game set with an afternoon game. Ted Lilly retired the first 9 guys in order, but has run into trouble in the 4th. It might end up being a repeat of his last start, where he looked much improved from the outset but then got roughed up the second time through the order. Let's hope not. 0-0 score for now...