Things heat up...

Literally and otherwise-the temperature has been north of 100 degrees, and the pennant races have gotten very interesting. The one nearest and dearest to my heart, of course, is the NL Central. The Cubs, now in first place, have finally managed to capitalize on the Brewers' skid, despite being 4-6 in their last 10 games. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have been not-so-quietly gaining ground, going 7-3 in the same stretch. The 4-game homestand that kicked off yesterday at Wrigley is a must-win for the Cubs.

The good news is that the Cubs have finally started to pull it together offensively, even with Soriano out of the lineup and Derrek Lee struggling big-time at the plate. The not-so-good news is that the bullpen is still shaky. Not a good thing, when you look at the big numbers the Cardinals' offense has been putting up lately-a staggering 55 runs in their last 10 games, including three straight thrashings of the Brewers.

That being said, the Cubs did a couple key things in the win yesterday-

• Get a quality start from the pitcher. Rich Hill's numbers from yesterday: 7 IP, 3H, 1R, 2BB, 7K. A very good outing.
  
• Keep it close. Howry and Dempster both did a good job of shutting down the Cards' offense.
• Make things happen offensively. Although the 2-run, 4-hit box score doesn't look that impressive, coming up with an answer to Pujols' homer was key.
  

If the Cubs can make those same sorts of things happen today (and on through the weekend), there's a very real change of pulling out to a fair lead in the division. It's time to start looking towards October.