Is Randy spelled ROY?

The Cubs could have the Rookie of the Year two years in a row for the first time since 1961-62 when Billy Williams and Ken Hubbs took the honors.

Randy Wells is making a serious case for himself. With 12 consecutive scoreless innings heading into Monday, Wells beat the Reds for the second time in less than two weeks, building up to 19 straight scoreless innings before allowing a solo home run to Alex Gonzalez in the 8th. He climbed to 8-4 with the win, and dropped his ERA to 2.73 along the way.

Among rookie pitchers, the Phillies' J.A. Happ is having a great season as well. Happ is 7-2 with a 2.97 ERA, but he might be on his way to the bullpen when the Phillies activate newly-signed Pedro Martinez.

Among rookie hitters, the Cardinals' Colby Rasmus has a .252, 11, 35 season going, and the Brewers' Casey McGehee is batting .319, but has a relatively modest nine home runs and 34 RBI.

If Wells keeps dealing, he will be a very viable candidate for the award. He's now just two innings shy of qualifying for the NL ERA leaderboard--if he did qualify, he'd be seventh in the league. If he gets up to 12 or 13 wins, the Cubs could have a catcher and a pitcher win Rookie of the Year in consecutive years.

Monday: Cubs 4, Reds 2

Great to see Fontenot put a charge into one. His last home run was also against the Reds, and the three-run shot matched his home run total (9) from last year.

Carlos Marmol eventually closed it out, but not without plenty of drama. With his 36-pitch outing, Piniella--who wanted to stay away from Gregg for a couple days--may have to go to Guzman or Marshall to close out tonight's game should a save situation arise.

Some want Marmol to be the closer after Gregg imploded in Florida over the weekend. I say there's not enough blood pressure medication in the world for that.

With the Cardinals taking a day off, the Cubs pulled into a tie for first. The Cardinals head to Citi Field for two with the Mets, followed by a three-game set in Pittsburgh.