Well I will be honest and say that I’m kind of happy with a four game split against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sure things didn’t turn out how we had all hoped for on Sunday night when Sean Marshall got rocked and the Dodgers went on for a 8-2 victory, but overall in the four game set I had to come away happy. The pitching was there for three of the games, the offense was hit or miss but showed some life which they did not have in the week before. Overall, I’ll take a 2-2 series against a 35-17 ballclub who has the best record in the major leagues.

The only highlight at the plate for the Cubs on Sunday night was Reed Johnson who knocked in two runs in the sixth inning with a double off of Dodgers starting pitcher Eric Milton. Isn’t Milton like 50 years old now by the way? I’ll give him credit though, he went out there and pitched great and got a nice preformance from his offense.

The Dodgers offense sent all nine batters to the plate in the first inning when the lefty Marshall struggled to start the game. Five straight singles and five runs in the first, every Cubs fan knew it was going to be a long night and that was exactly what it was for the Cubs pitching staff. We won’t be seeing Marshall in the starting roation for a while as he will be headed back out to the bullpen as Rich Harden makes his return to the active roster. Harden is expected to pitch off the mound on Tuesday.

I guess another bright spot on the night was the Cubs bullpen. The pen pitched 4 2/3′s innings and did not allow the potent Dodgers offense to score a run. They had their chances, but the Cubs relievers did their job and got out of jams without allowing a run to score. Jose Ascanio, Jason Waddell, David Patton, Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg all seen action out of the bullpen.

So after the month of May, the Cubs are one game over .500 with a 25-24 record. Not exactly where we want to be but still within striking distance of the division leaders. Currently the team is 4.5 games out of first place. The Milwaukee Brewers are are in first place followed by the St. Louis Cardinals who are just one game out. The Cubs do have a long road trip coming up that starts on Tuesday night down in Atlanta so the rankings in the division could really move around in the next 10 days. The Cubs will make stops in Atlanta, Cincinnati and Houston. Let’s hope for atleast a .500 road trip.

Enjoy the off day today everyone!

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh