Gallardo has faced a couple of guys on the Cubs' roster while at AAA this year:

Angel Pagan (0-6, 2SO)
Mike Fontentot (0-5, 1BB, 1SO)
Koyie Hill (0-3, 1SO)

I've got one foot on the bandwagon right now. Two out of three this weekend - .500 and 6.5 back - and I'll be fully onboard.

I haven't posted much to the Game Chatters this year, because hardly anyone showed up early in the season (splitting the game chat THREE WAYS on BTF didn't help). So I've been sticking to the Parachat on TCR. I do miss some of the insights of the regulars here, though.

chatters would be better if the cubs wernt so damn frustrating to watch

On the bright side, Hill is dominating Corey Hart today. The rest of the lineup, not so much.

Looks like the Brewers found a way to make Hill totally ineffective.

I didn't get to see the first inning, but the 5-0 score so early really drove home the idea that the Cubs and Brewers really aren't that comprable.

It hurts to only get one run out of a 1st and 3rd, no out situation (with Soriano-Fontenot-Lee-Ramirez batting), but I can't say it's surprising.

So did Hill look bad or was it just a matter of the Brewers fouling off a ton of pitches?

YES YES YES YES YES

Cubs win on Aramis Ramirez walk off home run.

I hope to see something like that tomorrow.

Wow, I accidentally flipped to this game at the exact moment Ramirez hit the homerun.

I was typing up a forgiving summary of today's game on another board, nothing I didn't expect the Cubs to win both today and tomorrow's game. Then I hear in the other room the back-to-back singles, peep in to see Lee get the sac fly and figure it's either gonna be Ramirez going deep or that being the game. Great win! Reminds me a bit of that game against the Reds early in 2004 when Sosa and Alou hit homers in the ninth of a game they'd been down big to win it.

Same here.

Looking at the Box Score, Hill had a terrible game, but the bullpen came through for us. I wonder, given how well they've done recently, whether or not this means the bullpen will stop sucking. If so, I honestly think we have a decent shot at catching Milwaukee.

More Marmol/Petrick. Less Eyre/Howry.

Great comeback, made possible by absolutely tremendous bullpen work. No runs, 3 hits in 8 innings against a powerful lineup. Just terrific.

Actually, 0 runs/3 hits in *6* innings by the pen. Still.

I don't have the numbers off-hand, but at a glance, it really seems like our BP struggles lied with three guys: Eyre, Howry, and Ohman. Eyre has been reduced to mop-up duties, Howry seems to have come around and Ohman, while not great, is doing his job decently.

Dempster has been steady in closing situations, Wuertz has been good-great all season, and this youth movement really seems to be what's improved the pen as a whole. Carlos Marmol has become a fun pitcher to watch. He had the stuff last season, but no command. He's shown few signs of poor control this year and the results have been lots of strikeouts and clean innings.

Honestly, if the starting rotation were still pitching as they were in April, the Cubs would be dominating right now. The offense is still hit-or-miss, but the pen has been superb. Hill isn't going to be a lights-out pitcher, but I think he's still on track to be a number two starter. Marshall's been excellent since his call-up and Zambrano has looked like the guy we were all floored wasn't going to get the big extension earlier in the season. Marquis has reverted back to the stressful pitcher we figured we were getting for three years and Lily has either looked real bad or had a real bad inning or two in an otherwise solid start.

I don't think the pen can keep getting worked like this, but things are more encouraging lately. I'm figuring Hill's going to be a hit-or-miss kind of pitcher, as is Lily. I have no faith in Marquis, but if he can eat innings and keep the runs down, he doesn't need to be the ace of the staff.

I guess I shouldn't have give up on this game so early. HOLY LIVING ####!!

Honestly, if the starting rotation were still pitching as they were in April, the Cubs would be dominating right now. The offense is still hit-or-miss, but the pen has been superb. Hill isn't going to be a lights-out pitcher, but I think he's still on track to be a number two starter. Marshall's been excellent since his call-up and Zambrano has looked like the guy we were all floored wasn't going to get the big extension earlier in the season. Marquis has reverted back to the stressful pitcher we figured we were getting for three years and Lily has either looked real bad or had a real bad inning or two in an otherwise solid start.

My expectations:

1) Liking Zambrano to pitch great until he proves otherwise

2) Lilly always been scattershot, mixing great stretches with rotten stretches. I'd expect that to continue.

3) Hill's reminding me a bit of Lilly. Maybe a little better. He pitched over his head early, but he's better than his struggles.

4) Marshall -- he can't really be this good, can he? I'd expect some regression, but have no idea how much. Boy I hope I'm wrong.

5) Marquis: what we've seen since over his last nine starts: 5.28 ERA. Expect more of it.

Aside from Z, nothing spectacular, but all fairly solid. Z's an above average ace, Hill an above
#2, Lilly an above average #3, Marshall an above average #4, and Marquis an above average #5. That's a nice combo to have.

May is what really killed us in the bullpen. Eyre, Howry, Weurtz, Cotts, Dempster, and Ohman all had an ERA over 4.50, and only Eyre was below 5. They combined for 55.1 of 73.1 innings pitched by the bullpen giving them a combined ERA of 6.37. June has been much, much better with Cotts in Iowa and only Eyre of that remaining group being over 4.50, and not by much. They've pitched 55.1 of 78.2 innings, and when combined with Marmol have an ERA of 2.96.

OK - someone has to say and sure, it's probably just coincidence....

But the Cubs are 7-1 since trading Barrett.