Baby, You Can Drive My Carlos
Un-Svelte Pitcher Continues Unbeaten Streak

Dennis Wierzbicki/US PRESSWIRE

When the Cubs picked up Carlos Silva, all we could think was, "Thank God his name isn't Milton Bradley." And yet the hurler has been practically unstoppable this season, a trend that continued yesterday as he dominated the Cardinals in a 5-0 win. The rotund Silva — who makes Rick Reuschel look like Kate Moss — struck out a career-high 11 and allowed a mere two hits over seven innings. Incredibly, Silva went 5-18 the last two years for the Mariners. We don't know what changed, but we'll take it. As for the offense, Lil' Lord Fontenot hit two triples, Starlin Castro had a RBI single, and the Cards walked in a run. Net result: Cubs win.

ESPN Chicago: Silva allows just two hits to stay perfect... [+ video]
Chicago Tribune: Cubs' Silva goes to 7-0
Chicago Sun-Times: 'Really, really, really good'
Daily Herald: Sharp Silva stays unbeaten, leads Cubs over Cards
MLB: Silva wins seventh game with conviction [+ video]

Here's the Pitch
Zambrano's Return Means Starting Rotation Shakeup
With Big Z coming back to the rotation, a change is gonna come to the pitching lineup. ESPN Chicago theorizes about what might go down: Tom "Double-Live Gorzo" Gorzelanny heads to the bullpen, and Andrew "Straight cash, homey" Cashner comes to the bigs from the minors. We don't know what's going to happen with John "Sir Walks-a-Lot" Grabow, but hopefully something that keeps him from ever pitching for the Cubs again.

ESPN Chicago: Cubs preparing to make pitching moves

On-Base Is the Place
To Win, Cubs Simply Need to Get On-Base
Are you down with OBP? The Cubs don't seem to be. The Daily Herald finds the Cubs are simply not getting on-base very often, which leads to fewer runs. That's bad — unless you're Dusty Baker, who famously referred to it as "clogging up the bases." The Cubs are 12th the NL in drawing walks, 10th in OBP (on-base percentage), and ninth in runs scored. The team simply doesn't seem to be very patient at the plate — at this point, the seldom-played Tyler Colvin has more walks than Marlon Byrd and Ryan Theriot. The bottom line: "If the Cubs don't start having better at-bats and raising their on-base percentage, it's going to be awfully hard for them to win this year," the Herald writes.

Daily Herald: For Cubs to rise, OBP must rise

Time for Tyler?
Rookie's Stellar Play Is Creating Outfield Logjam
Last year, Tyler Colvin looked like a completely unimpressive beanpole. He batted .176 in his brief stint in the majors, and made people wonder how the Cubs could have drafted him with the 13th pick of the first round. The lefty has opened some eyes this year, though, putting on some muscle in the off-season and hitting .353 over his last 24 games. So why isn't he playing more? Because the Cubs' starting outfielders are all having good years, too. But as Piniella notes, "If [Colvin] continues to do these things, he's forcing it." Do you have Tylermania? We're starting to catch it....

MLB: Colvin's great play forces Piniella's hand

Using His Head
Beaned in First At-Bat, Former Cub Still Plugging Away
We forgive you if you don't remember Adam Greenberg — the diminutive dude's career with the Cubs lasted exactly one pitch. He rose through the minors, then finally reached the majors on July 9, 2005. No sooner had he settled in at home plate than he got plunked in the head with the first pitch he saw. The injury left him with headaches, dizziness, and something called positional vertigo, and ended his career... or so we thought. Turns out Greenberg is still running down a dream, playing for the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League. He stole a whopping 53 bases last year, and is hoping to catch on as a pinch-runner. God bless, we say.

The last Cubs pitcher to go 7-0 was Ken Holtzman in 1967... Aramis Ramirez's thumb is still bothering him, and the disabled list is looking like an option (hey, whatever gets his average above .170)... Mike Fontenot is batting .500 in his last eight games.

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