Sweep in the heart of Texas

After taking two of two from the Astros, the Cubs are now 6-1 in May and have moved back to their high-water mark of the season, four games over .500. A big reason for their recent success? Quality starts from the Cubs rotation.

A quality start is defined as six innings or more while allowing three or fewer earned runs. With Harden pitching into the 8th on Wednesday and allowing three runs, followed by Lilly's strong six inning, two run performance on Thursday, the Cubs are now tied for the major league lead with 17 quality starts. Somewhat surprisingly, the team they're tied with is the Brewers, whom the Cubs will face this weekend.

The resurgence of the Cubs offense hasn't hurt either. In their last seven, the Cubs are averaging 6.3 runs/game (strangely, they've scored either four, six, or eight runs in every game). They've now scored the sixth most runs in the league and are in the middle of the pack (ninth) in on-base percentage. And another stat I really like: the Cubs are fifth in stolen bases with 18, just three fewer than the league leaders who have 21 (Theriot leads the team with six). Going back to 2000, the highest the Cubs have finished was sixth in 2006.

One more good sign: after recording just one save in the first 21 games, Kevin Gregg has recorded four in the last seven games.

So for the second time this season, the Cubs will fly from Houston to Milwaukee. Randy Wells will make his season debut tonight against Dave Bush, and will do his best in the next couple weeks to minimize the damage of Zambrano's trip to the DL. If Zambrano is ready to return around May 19 against the Cardinals, Wells will most likely make two starts--one tonight and one against either San Diego or Houston next week.

Tonight's matchup will be followed by Dempster/Gallardo and then Marshall/Suppan on Sunday as the Cubs try to improve upon their 10-7 record against the NL Central.

Cubs trade Gathright
Joey Gathright is really fast. "How fast is he?" Joey Gathright is so fast, he's been run out of town after just 28 days.

Worthless acquisition (worthless in part because he did nothing at the plate or on the bases and in part because Piniella seemed to have no interest in finding out if he had the potential to contribute) Joey Gathright was traded to the Orioles today for Ryan Freel. The Orioles will pay part of Freel's $3.3 million salary.

The 33-year-old utility man was traded from the Reds to the O's in December. He has a lifetime .271 average and stole over 35 bases in three consecutive years from 2004-2006. Freel has played just nine games this season after landing on the DL April 21 due to a head injury sustained after being hit with an errant pickoff attempt.

For now, this trade appears to be a wash. Gathright had contributed nothing to the roster, and Freel seems unlikely to make a significant impact either, as he hasn't done much in the majors since '06. But, I always liked Freel with the Reds--he plays the game hard and could provide some speed off the bench. He is also just 5'9, which means we now have a full Lollipop Guild with Miles, Theriot, Fontenot and Freel, all of whom are 5'11 or shorter (not that 5'11 is that short, but in professional sports other than horseback riding, it is!).