Snakebitten

I know the Cubs have been struggling to score runs lately, but I don't think Monday's loss was another example of a faltering offense--I think the Cubs just caught a good pitcher on one of his good days. Dan Haren was absolutely lights out in the 7-2 Diamondbacks victory, and I'm not sure a lineup of nine Ted Williamses would have done much against him.

But you also don't deserve to win if you allow five stolen bases and commit three errors. Lilly allowed three of the stolen bases (and a fourth that was incorrectly called an out)--he's even worse than Greg Maddux at holding runners on base. I wish he would at least make a token effort to keep the opposition from running wild on the basepaths.

Cubs notes
-Fukudome's not only hitting, he's throwing, too. He nailed Mark Reynolds at the plate with an absolute laser beam early in Monday's game. He had six assists last year, and that was his second this year.

-Geovany Soto needs to get it going a little bit. With Bradley, Lee and Ramirez out on Monday, Soriano and Soto were the real power threats in the lineup, but Soto hasn't been a threat of any kind to this point--he's batting .128 with nary a home run and just two RBI.

-Speaking of players out with injury, Bradley is expected to start Tuesday, and Ramirez, Lee and Marmol could all be back very soon.

Did you know ...
-The Phillies hit two grand slams Monday, and some guy named Omir Santos hit one for the Mets. That's 26 grand slams across baseball in just 22 days, a pace which would shatter the current record for grand slams in a season.

-Three pitchers in baseball have four wins: Roy Halladay, Joel Piniero and Zach Greinke (Royals).

NBA note
Remember all those great playoff games I was talking about? Well that does not apply to Denver's 121-63 slaughter New Orleans on Monday. By quarter, the Nuggets outscored the Hornets by 21, 1, 16 and 20. New Orleans shot 32% from the field and had 26 turnovers. The 58-point margin of victory matches the largest in NBA playoff history.


From the "You can keep screaming in the background and waving your arms around like that, but it's not going to work" category



It was an under-reported story, but Raptors guard Jose Calderon set an NBA record by shooting 98.05% from the free throw line this season. He was an amazing 151-154 from the charity stripe, breaking Calvin Murphy's record of 95.8% during the 1980-81 season.

And we mustn't ignore the fact that Calderon made 87 consecutive free throws at one point, the second longest streak of all-time behind Micheal Williams. (This brings to mind that the second longest streak in NCAA Division III history is held by Illinois Wesleyan University's own Korey Coon, who hit 70 in a row in 1999. Coon shot 96.3% from the line in the 1999-2000 season, an all-time record for Division III.)

Eighty-seven in a row! 151-154! I'm ecstatic when I go 8-10.

Still, Calderon could learn a thing or two from this guy.

(hat tip: Chris Kawakita)