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Cubs 5 Rockies 3

It was homecoming in Colorado today. 4 of the 9 starters for the Cubs are ex-Rockies. And all of them came back to bite their former team. Henry Blanco(1999), Todd Walker(2000), Neifi Perez(1996-2001) and Jeromy Burnitz(2004) led the Cubs to victory today. Burnitz used the thin air of Denver to his advantage. He broke out of his slump, going 3 for 5 with 2 RBI's and a run scored. Walker went 2 for 3 with a homer and a run scored. Neifi went 1 for 3 while filling in for Nomar, who sat out today's game. And Henry Blanco went 0 for 3, but he had a big RBI and called a great game.

Speaking of pitching, Prior had a quality start today. He threw 6 strong innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 10. He seemed to be a little off with his command today. Prior threw way to many pitches for 6 innings. Dusty has to be careful with him. In his last 2 starts he has thrown 122 pitches against St. Louis and 118 today. I know Dusty does not trust his bullpen and they need the wins, but he cannot run down his starters. Remember 2003. Woody pitched great again, he did walk one, but in between he struck out 2. The campaign poster will read: KERRY WOOD FOR CLOSER IN 2006. Dempster had his first 1,2,3 inning in a long time to get his 19th save. With the thin air in Colorado to only give up 3 runs, consider it a success and move on.

Also, Jerry Harriston, Jr. was activated today and to make room for him Matt Murton was sent to AAA Iowa. I knew this was going to happen and there was nothing that could be done. Murton will be back in Chicago with the September call-ups, but he should not have been sent down at all. Harriston has not been consistant and is very close to just being an answer to a trivia question. Murton, Ronny Cedeno, Felix Pie and Rich Hall ARE THE FUTURE of this team..and from where I am sitting the future is looking good.

Saturday - Glendon Rusch(5-5/4.28) vs. Aaron Cook(1-1/5.16)

The Cubbies took the first one today, now its time for number 2. Rusch has to be better than his last start in Houston. Prior's outing today gave the bullpen additonal rest, which could prove to be very valuable. With the importance of every game, Rusch should have a short leash. The offense did fine today, but in Colorado 5 runs is usually not enough. Hopefully Nomar will be back tomorrow (Message to Dusty, 'Hit Nomar in the 2 hole') and will still have the hot bat(.350 since coming off of the DL).

Be patient, no extra outs...and just win!!