Tuesday’s night game against the Cincinnati Reds could be the one game that really seperated the Chicago Cubs from the rest of the division. Behind seven strong innings from Rich Harden, the Cubs defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 and went up six games on the Milwaukee Brewers and eight in a half games up on the St. Louis Cardinals. I’m not saying the Cubs have things locked up, but if they can extend this six game lead into a an eight or nine game lead this week, things will be looking very good for the Cubs.

Harden through his best game in a Cubs uniform as he limited the visiting Reds to only two hits in seven innings of action. Harden once again struckout atleast ten batters which was his fourth time in seven starts for the Cubs. Harden also bunted in the first Cubs run when Geovany Soto scored from third in the fifth inning.

Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood had no problems shutting down the Reds in the eighth and ninth innings as the combination kept the Reds hitters guessing at the plate over the final few innings.

The Cubbies added four runs in the eighth off relievers Reds relievers Mike Lincoln and Bill Bray. Derrek Lee started things off with an RBI single, Aramis Ramirez then hit a double down the left field line that scored a run. Kosuke Fukudome then had a two run single to center field with the bases loaded to score two more runs.

The Cubs improved to a season-high 29 games over .500 at 77-48. Chicago has won seven of eight and 17 of its last 21.

Ted Lilly will be going to the mound on Wednesday evening against Bronson Arroyo. It seems that the Cubs either hit Arroyo very hard and score a lot of runs, or they have problems with his junk pitches and struggle at the plate. It will be interesting to see how the game turns out.

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