Not a very good night

Truly horrid night, in my opinion, starting with Joe West behind the plate. His ball/strike calls are as bad as anyone I've ever seen. Why can't MLB do something about that? Forget instant replay on homers -- how about making umpires call strikes as strikes and balls as balls?

That said, we still stunk offensively. It was not all West's fault. Even Sutcliffe called out DLee...said "he's struck out swinging twice -- you need better than that from your number three hitter." I agree. Have for months. He should not be hitting third. Period. I'd rather see Aramis hit third, Soto fourth and Lee fifth if need be. Get Ramirez the extra at bats.

Marquis set the tone. Hit. Walk. Walk. Only upside to the first inning was that Cecil didn't hit a grand slam, merely a base clearing double.

Another interesting comment last night from Sut -- "they were prepared for Sheets, and they can't seem to adjust to anything else." Are we that stupid? Really? "Um, I know that's not Ben Sheets out there, but I'm gonna purtend it is because that's what I purpared fer all day."

Oh, well. It shouldn't matter much. Need for Harden to do his thing tonight and get us back on the winning track. Cut into that magic number and drop the Brewers further back. Get ready to clinch v St. Louis this weekend. I'll actually be in St. Louis this weekend, not that it has anything to do with it. It's not Cozumel, but hey, it's not a vacation.

Go Cubs.

Best to cb

Sherm