A Walk in the Park
Big Z Lets in Only 1 Run, Cubs Still Lose 5-3

Jerry Lai/US PRESSWIRE

Once upon a time, Carlos Zambrano used to strike people out. But not yesterday — he whiffed a mere one Padre over six innings and walked six. (Six!) But he still let in only one run, and the Cubs actually led 2-1 until the typically awesome Sean Marshall gave up four runs in the seventh. You wouldn't believe how one of them scored: There was a rundown, and then a guy on third... forget it. Just watch it here. Cubs lose, 5-3. Also, the attendance was 30,687, the lowest since September 7, 2006.

ESPN Chicago: Padres complete first ever four-game sweep of Cubs [+ video]
Chicago Tribune: Hill takes blame for Cubs' 5-3 loss to Padres [+ video]
Daily Herald: Things just keeps getting uglier for Cubs
MLB: Bizarre seventh rips lead, game from Cubs [+ video]

Even the Losers
Rough Week for the North Siders
In his weekly tally of winners and losers, Crain's writer Ed Sherman points out a few more painful facts: Did you know that the combined salary of Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano exceeds the entire payroll for the San Diego Padres? Scratch that... the first-place San Diego Padres. Also, he notes that Derrek Lee (179 homers over seven seasons) actually put up comparable numbers to Andre Dawson (174 homers over six seasons) as a Cub, and yet Lee is hardly the iconic Cub that Dawson is.

Crain's: Winners and losers: Soriano and Zambrano combined salaries...

What Is the What?
Questions Facing Next Year's Cubs
The Cubs have many questions to answer for next year, such as: Is there a market for Zambrano? The Sun-Times says that if he continues to pitch well, a "handful" of teams might bite. How much money will Hendry have? Looks like the payroll will be around $120 million, which is a notable drop from the season's starting point of $146 million. And if he can get some relief for Kosuke Fukudome and Zambrano, Hendry might have some latitude to add some parts. Is next year the year? No, probably not. Sigh.

Chicago Sun-Times: Contentions questions for Cubs
Daily Herald: Operation overhaul, take III
The Score Blog: The future can't come soon enough

Speaking Loser-ese
Derrek Lee Seems Fluent in Language of Excuses
We liked Derrek Lee as much as anyone, but we were pretty disappointed when he said, "having to hear about losing kind of puts you in a negative environment." Tribune curmudgeon Steve Rosenbloom picked up on it and lambasted everyone on the North Side. On his blog, he points out Lou Piniella made some questionable moves in the playoffs, Aramis Ramirez didn't do squat in the 2007 and 2008 postseason, and more. "The Cubs might not have a clue how to run the bases, but they certainly can run away from responsibility," he writes.

Rosenblog: Loser talk from Lee

Toe Me the Way
The Sad Story of a Man Named Toe
Man does not live by Cubs news alone. So every now and then, we'll run a story that's worth reading on its own. Today's Good Read is a Peter Gammons story about a prospect named Toe Nash, a cross between Roy Hobbes and Satchel Paige. Nash was playing in the cane fields of Louisiana, hitting 400-foot bombs (from both sides of the plate!) and throwing 95 mph when a scout signed him. Unfortunately, Nash kept getting into serious trouble and never made it to the bigs. We're just glad he wasn't a Cub — our hearts couldn't have taken it.

ESPN: Devil Rays find The Natural in the cane fields

We don't know about you, but we're going to watch Derrek Lee's first at-bat for the Braves today. The game starts at 1:20 on CSN... Since returning to the rotation on August 9, Carlos Zambrano is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA... Micah Hoffpauir was going to come up from Triple-A to replace Derrek Lee, but a rule prevented the move so Sam Fuld reported to Wrigley instead... Ted Lilly threw a two-hit shutout for his fourth straight win as a LA Dodger... The lesson here: Don't ask Bob Brenly any tough questions if you want to stay in the booth.

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