Francisco Rodriguez blew the save, his third in 10 days.  Nothing new here.  Frankie has averaged 5.5 blown saves per season since becoming a full time closer, which is about the norm. 

This is what I worried about with Kevin Correia.  His fastball velocity was back a little yesterday, but not where it was during is hot streak.  You can see from the chart below (via fangraphs.com) the upward trend in Correia's average velocity and how it dropped significantly his last outing.  Yesterday's outing is represented with the red dot, which indicates an average fastball velocity of just over 91 mph.

A.J. Happ is becoming an interesting starter to watch.  Since converting to a full time starter he has shown a nice progression in K/BB rate.  Also, Happ's velocity is showing signs of progression as well.  He's currently owned in only 37% of Yahoo! Leagues.  

Franklin Gutierrez stays hot.  He hit .304 with 4 homers and 3 stolen bases in June. 

Pitchers are not giving anything to Albert Pujols and he'll take his walks all day long.  The beneficiary?  Ryan Ludwick.  It's been a struggle this season with healthy and a prolonged slump, but he has 7 hits in his last 5 games and 3 RBI in his last 2 games with Pujols getting on in front of him.

Derrek Lee didn't just hit 2 homeruns last night.  He hit 2 pure bombs last night.  One was a grand slam and Lee collected 7 RBI on the night.  Lee hit .333 and slugged .973 in June. 

Will there be a place for Jake Fox to play once A-Ram returns from the DL?

I think I'm done betting against Mark Buehrle.

Tear down that silly Wild Card pennant, here comes the big boy - the real deal. It's gonna happen. The Brewers WILL win the NL Central this year, and here's 5 reasons why.

Our friend Brad goes on to list four reasons (he forgot the all important No. 2).

Speaking of No. 2, they can tear down that "silly Wild Card pennant" from 2008, but they'll have to pry the Commemorative DVD of the 2008 Wild Card out of Wisconsinians' cold dead hands.

Wells evened his record at 3-3 (he's won his last three starts) and lowered his ERA below 2.50. He went seven and allowed one run on six hits (five singles and a double) and one walk.

Lee's homer was all Wells would need. The Pirates only run came in the home half of the first as Andrew McCutchen came around on a Brandon Moss single.

Virgil Vasquez didn't do himself much disservice. He went six and gave up three runs - a Kosuke Fukudome tater in the sixth was the final tally off him. He gave up seven hits and three walks. He struck out a pair.

Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg finished up, with Gregg getting a save.

The Good

McCutchen had two hits.

As did Jason Jaramillo.

The Bad

Where did the offense go? Traded, perhaps? This will be an interesting month as I expect Jack Wilson to be practically given away. There is no chance the Pirates will pick up his 2010 option. So, why keep him? Adam LaRoche might also be gone.

The Rest

Garrett Jones made his Bucco debut and was hitless in four at bats. His last appearance in the Show was 9/30/07. Bet that seemed like an eternity for him.

Also making his debut for the Steel City Nine was Joel Hanrahan. He tossed one scoreless inning as the first man out of the pen.

This was Wells first appearance against the Pirates and Vasquez' first appearance against the Wriglies.

Coming into the night, Moss was one of 22 players with 200 PAs in 2009 with fewer than 20 RBIs. Of the other 21 players, 10 of them had double digits in steals. So, yes, the club has been getting leadoff hitter-like RBI production from the middle of the order.

Over the last seven seasons, there are nine pitchers who have won 90 or more games (wins being a statistic the angry hordes can understand and usually cling to): Johan Santana (107), Roy Halladay (104), Roy Oswalt (100), Carlos Zambrano (95), Andy Pettitte (94), CC Sabathia (94), Derek Lowe (92), Josh Beckett (90) and Mark Buehrle (90).

Of those, only Sabathia is younger than the just turned 28-year-old Zambrano - by 50 days.

Of those, only Lowe (218) and Buehrle (214) have started more games than Zambrano (206).

Of those, only Santana (2.88), Halladay (3.18) and Oswalt (3.26) have a lower ERA than Zambrano (3.41).

Of those, only Santana (1,462) and Sabathia (1,151) have more strikeouts than Zambrano (1,141).

Of those, only Santana (.217) has a lower batting average against than Zambrano (.228).

Of those, none have a lower slugging percentage against than Zambrano (.351).

In short, Carlos Zambrano has easily been one of the best pitchers in baseball since he entered the league. And Phil Rogers and his pitchfork-wielding followers are looking to run him out of town because he finally has gone too far by plunking two White Sox batters.

(Previous "In Defense Of" posts can be found here.)

PITTSBURGH -- Carlos Zambrano had some fun with an unscientific Tribune fan poll in which 57.2 percent of respondents said he should be moved, as Phil Rogers suggested in a column Monday.

"Fine, trade me to Boston," Zambrano said.

Last weekend Zambrano said he would play for only two other teams than the Cubs -- Boston and the White Sox. But apparently he changed his mind about the White Sox now that he knows pitching coach Don Cooper doesn't care for him.

In truth, the Cubs can't send Zambrano anywhere without his approval.

"Got the no-trade clause, man," he said.

Any other team in the National League he would consider being traded to?

"The Dodgers," he said.

Why the Dodgers?

"Can you see me in Hollywood?" he said. "Me and (Sylvester) Stallone? Rocky VI."

Zambrano then began shadow boxing in the middle of the clubhouse. Very strange, this Cubs bunch.

If Paul Sullivan thinks you're strange, well, that's saying something I suppose.

1. The 100th anniversary of the opening of Forbes Field

2. For the second straight year the Pirates have traded away 2/3 of their starting outfield.

Ross Ohlendorf picked up his 7th win by tossing seven shutout innings to overshadow (at least temporarily) all of that. He allowed three singles, a double and no walks while striking out eight.

Freddy Sanchez played the role of a man picking up the empty pieces of an offense. He had a part in all three Pirate runs, driving in a pair and scoring the third. He also stole a base.

The Cubs didn't threaten until they put two on with none gone against John Grabow in the 8th. But Grabow held on, whiffing Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome before getting Derrek Lee to ground out. Matt Capps pitched the 9th for the save.

The Good

A winning June. First one since 1996. Unbelievable.

Nice job by Ohlendorf. Second on the staff in wins.

Need more of that from Sanchez.

I have to say I'm happy thus far on the return for Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett. Lastings Milledge seems to have been around for a while, but he just turned 24. The only member of the club younger than him is Andrew McCutchen.

Ted Lilly gave up all three runs to the Pirates. The first of which scored when Freddy Sanchez scored from second on a strike three when Geovany Soto's throw to Lilly covering home went through the pitcher's wickets.

The Bad

McCutchen is just 1-18. His first struggle at this level. Hopefully he works out of it soon.

Delwyn Young has two hits in his last 18 at bats.

The Rest

Ohlendorf established a single game mark for whiffs.

Welcome Garrett Jones who was brought up from Indy before the game. He didn't appear tonight. He spent the better part of the last four years in AAA averaging better than 20 homers a year.

Lilly was 3-0 in his career against the Pirates coming in.

Sports Illustrated correspondents in every city interviewed 380 players in May for the poll, though many players declined to answer that particular question, even while knowing they would remain anonymous. SI did not break down the exact vote totals, but listed Piniella first with 26 percent of the vote, followed by Guillen at 21 percent. St. Louis' La Russa (10 percent), the Dodgers' Joe Torre (4 percent), and Cleveland's Eric Wedge (4 percent) rounded out the top five. Players could not vote for managers from their own team.

Lou Piniella, .521, one World Series titles and six division titles
Ozzie Guillen, .531, one World Series titles and two division titles
Tony La Russa, .536, two World Series titles, five pennants and 11 division titles
Joe Torre, .540, four World Series titles, six pennants and 12 division titles
Eric Wedge, 502, one division title

This is an honest question. Instead of me writing a blog today since I am super busy at work, I want to know what you think has happened to the Tigers bats? Pratically shutout by some no-name stiff and the bullpen in Oakland last night. Handcuffed by mediocre pitching all weekend in Houston and we did not exactly light up the Cubs either.

With the Twins on the horizon something needs to give. Can anyone explain to me why the bats have gone silent? We hav enot exactly been lighting it up for much of the year either but lately scoring has been a challenge. Magglio's hair cut does not seem to be helping either as he has looked lost, almost searching for an answer why. Maybe it is just THAT time for him, who knows?

Lets turn it around and build that lead back up....

Everybody wants to bury the Mets this week for their underachieving ways, but at least their struggles can be largely related to their lineup that has been decimated by injuries, a bullpen that lost its power set up man, and one misguided contract given to Oliver Perez.

In Chicago, it's less about injuries and more about attitude. The Cubs need a culture shock, one that comes with a swift broom and a dustpan, sweeping out all of the destructible personas in this woebegone franchise.

It's amazing that the Cubs currently sit 3.5 games out of first place in the National League Central. If you only looked at the standings, you would think life is pretty good on the North side. But if there is ever a franchise in need of detoxification, this is it.

The selling of the Cubs from the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family has been held up over financial issues regarding the $900 million price tag, but as soon as that transaction is complete, Tom Ricketts needs to walk through the clubhouse with a Dustbuster.

If Ricketts wants to see a winning franchise with his name on it, an identity change is the first thing he needs to do.

The face of the Cubs, certainly for the worst, is ace Carlos Zambrano. If Zambrano didn't live life as a ticking detonator, his enormous talent would be universally lauded. Zambrano would normally be one of the Top 15 pitchers in all of baseball on my list, but enough is enough.

His tantrums do more harm for the Cubs than his pitching does good. When are we ever going to see the Zambrano who doesn't let his emotions get the best of him and simply sticks to dominating the competition, you ask? Well, never, because there isn't such a thing. I'm convinced.

Vintage Zambrano was on display Sunday as the Cubs wrapped up a weekend series with the White Sox.

In the bottom of the sixth inning with the White Sox up 3-0, Chris Getz was on third base with DeWayne wise at the plate. The White Sox put on a suicide squeeze but it was recorded as a stolen base for Getz when Zambrano threw wide of catcher Geovany Soto and the ball went to the backstop, making it 4-0 White Sox.

On the next pitch, Zambrano hit Wise, and the two immediately started exchanging words. Zambrano said it was a "cutter that cut too much," but then waved Wise to meet him out at the mound.

Regardless of Zambrano's alibi, he lost his focus, put fake machismo above competing, and didn't make it out of the inning. That's not exactly the leadership the Cubs need from their ace when they are looking up at three other teams in their division.

Oh, but Big Z isn't alone when it comes to the powder kegs. Milton Bradley routinely joins the party, and his latest water cooler-smashing incident came on Friday, resulting in a shouting match in the dugout tunnel with manager Lou Pinella and Pinella allegedly calling him a "piece of [bleep]."

But Bradley being in the middle of some sort of emotional drama is no surprise, though. When a guy has played for seven teams in the last nine seasons, why in the world would he ever be able to survive in one of the rowdiest sports venues in America playing in front of some of the hostile and blood-boiling fans?

There's Ted Lilly, who is always good for a few outbursts a season. My favorite Lilly moment came in the 2007 NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Lilly gave up a home run to Arizona's Chris Young - one bad pitch in a horrible outing - and spiked his glove on the mound in a big Little League huff. That was the lasting image of those Cubs.

To top it all off, Geovany Soto tested positive for marijuana while playing for Puerto Rico in this spring's World Baseball Classic. Soto, the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year, was banned from international competition for two years (big deal), and promptly made all of the cliché apologies that he didn't write.

To be fair, the Cubs have been crushed by the absence of Aramis Ramirez and the invisibility of Alfonso Soriano. Ramirez is expected back soon after dislocating his left shoulder on May 9, but Soriano is still lost at the plate.

In a perfect world, Ramirez would be healthy and he would share the leadership role with Derek Lee. Both are stand up guys and both are productive players. Of course, there is nothing such as a perfect world in Cubdom.

Who knows when Ricketts will end up taking over the ownership of the Cubs, and even if it did happen soon, it is extremely tough to make big changes in the middle of a season. Fine. The Cubs current roster has the rest of this season to make the best of it.

But as soon as the World Series is over, jerseys must be burned and this club needs to start over. With Soriano's massive contract, you aren't moving him.

Soriano is part of the problem on the field, but he isn't part of the problem in the clubhouse and the tabloids. I would just drop him to sixth in the order where his power will play up and his .300 OBP will play down. He certainly doesn't belong in the leadoff spot.

Zambrano should be on the market and the Cubs should be open to all offers. Trust me, there would be plenty. They could get a haul of young players for him.

The Cubs would have to eat most of Bradley's salary, but it would be worth it to get him into another uniform and out of Chicago's nightmares.

Lilly? See ya.

Soto stays, but only because the marijuana incident is the only blotch on his resume with the Cubs. So the kid gets a second chance. But any more hiccups and he is out.

And while I'm at it, I would give Pinella a long, hard look. It's not his fault that he was given a roster with this many buffoons, but then again, he hasn't done anything to suggest that at 65-years-old he can manage any batch of egos. Pinella is a great manager, but the end comes at some point for everyone.

Give me Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Ryan Dempster, and Rich Harden. That's where I start. Those are my leaders. Complementary pieces like shortstop Ryan Theriot and Reed Johnson are great if the leadership is in place.

The Cubs will always have an inside track to talent, because Wrigley Field is one of the most desirable places to play and Chicago is a great place to live.

But every winner has a foundation of productive players with high character. That's a fact, and the Cubs will never win anything as long as they are known more for blow-ups than true ballplayers.

I want to enjoy the Cubs and the Wrigley Field atmosphere, which is second to none during October. But until the vision is changed from the top down, we are only going to get more dented water coolers.

Teddy Mitrosilis is the author of Ballpark Banter. He also writes for Bleacher Report. You can reach him at tm4000@yahoo.com.

Aramis Ramirez's long-awaited return from the disabled list should come before the Cubs' four-game showdown with Mark DeRosa and his St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field just before the All-Star break.

Barring a setback with his healing left shoulder, Ramirez plans to continue taking batting practice through the series in Pittsburgh, then head out Thursday for a minor-league rehab assignment of maybe four or five games.