C-Pat!!!!!!

C-Pat saves the day yesterday as we make a guy with a 5+ ERA who likes to give up the homer on a day with the wind blowing out look like an All-Star. C-Pat's first homer though was possibly the most wind-blown homer I've ever seen in my life, when he swung he knew it was a fly ball out, but the LF just kept backing up and it nestled beautifully into the basket.
What a game!!!! Also with Oliver Perez pitching today, a very big win for the Cubbies.

Some updates and other notes:

Baker switched Prior and Wood, so here's an update on the upcoming pitching starts...all speculative of course:

Pirates(1) - Prior
@Cincy (4) -Wood, Zambrano, Maddux. Clement
@Florida(2 - Doubleheader) - Prior, Rusch(I assume)
@Pirates(3) - Wood, Zambrano, Maddux
@Mets(3) - Clement, Prior, Wood
Cincy (4) - Zambrano, Maddux, Clement, Prior
Braves(3) - Wood, Zambrano, Maddux

This now sets up Prior as a tie-breaker or GAME 1 starter if it gets there. I don't like that as much. Prior of last year yes, inconsistent Prior of this year obviously struggling for his control, no!!!

Stealing some stuff from The Cub Reporter that I commented on yesterday, here's Maddux's stats since the All-Star Break:
___________ RECORD IP BB K ERA
July _________4-1 35.3 2 23 2.29
August ______3-1 39.3 9 27 2.97
September___1-1 14.7 2 9 1.23
---------------------------------------------
TOTAL 8-3 89.3 13 59 2.42

(That info was from the Cub Reporter)......

Although very impressive, here are his opponents since the All-Star Game:
Cincy (10th in RS)
Brewers x4 (14th in RS)
Phillies (4th in RS)
Giants (1st in RS)
Dodgers (9th in RS)
Expos x2 (15th in RS)
Pirates (13th in RS)

Not the best of the best here....he pitched well against the Phillies, got the win against the Giants but it wasn't a real good outing, he did well against the Dodgers(who I thought would be ranked higher) but got the loss. Everyone else kind of sucks.

I love the guy but he seems to have missed some of the good teams we've played so far, like the Padres(very good on the road to a tune of 5.7 Runs per game), Astros twice and @ Colorado.
______

This all stemmed from a discussion of what our playoff rotation should be, say we get there, I said if we have the luxury it should be Wood, Zambrano, Maddux, Prior with Clement in long relief. The stats for the top 3 against expected playoff opponents:

Wood
Atl - 1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 3 BB, 11K, .200 AVG
LA - 1-1, 1.80 ERA, 10 IP, 7H, 3R, 2ER, 4BB, 9K, .189 AVG
STL - 1-0, 2.08 ERA, 13 IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 15K, .174AVG

Maddux
Not faced Atlanta
LA - 0-1, 2.84 ERA, 6.1IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB,5K, .320AVG
STL 1-1, 4.58ERA, 19.2IP, 24H,10R,10ER,0BB,12K, .308AVG

Zambrano
Atl - 0-0, 1.29ERA, 7IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 7K, .095AVG
LA, 1-0, 0.00ERA, 8IP, 2H, 1R, 0ER, 2BB, 11K, .077AVG
STL 1-1, 2.78ERA, 22.2IP, 7R, 7ER, 10BB,27K, .171AVG

This all screams small sample size of course. It's very hard to pick between Z and Wood, but Z's overly emotional ways tend to frighten me a little bit come playoff time. It's a tough call. Wood is better than his ERA demonstrates this year as he's really been screwed by his defense this year more than any other Cub pither (and I'm not talking unearned runs here).