Things aren’t going the way everyone wants on the Northside of Chicago but hopefully things will turn around with a weekend series against the Pirates. On Thursday it was another loss as the Phillies finished off the Cubs with a 6-1 win and swept the Cubs on their home field.

There wasn’t a beer throwing incident today, but the same old thing. Terrible pitching and the lack of offense. Ryan Dempster pitched seven innings but struggled as he fell to 6-6 on the year. Dempster gave up home runs to Ryan Howard and Pedro Feliz in the fourth inning and that was enough runs for the Phillies as the Cubs offense could only push across one run.

The Cubs lone run would come off the bat of shortstop Ryan Theriot in the fifth inning. Theriot knocked in Jeff Baker with a single to center field. The offense is going to continue sucking it up until Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto start hitting the ball. They are hitting like pansies right now and it sure isn’t fun to watch that’s for sure.

The sweep for the Phillies at Wrigley Field was their first since the 1984 season. That’s how bad things are for the Cubs right now. Good news, the Pirates are coming to town for a weekend series and the Cubs should be able to get back on the winning track. The question is if they can catch the Cardinals who are now 4.5 games ahead in the division.

- Cliff