This Is It for the Cubs

Watching the Cubs in the post-season has given me horrible flashback nightmares the past couple days. As a Pirate fan, my only experiences with post-season baseball are the 1990-1992 NLCS's in which Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke, and Bobby Bonilla (in '90 and '91) failed to bring their bats with them to the playoffs and the Pirates lost three years in a row. This year for the Cubs, Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, and Derrek Lee are a combined 4-for-27 with four singles and only one walk between them. That's a .148/.179/.148 line from three guys that OPS'd .897, .915, and .913 respectively.

Tonight those three take their quest to find hits back to Chicago against Livian Hernandez, who the D'Backs hope can close out the sweep. You'll undoubtedly be told about what a great "big game pitcher' Hernandez is, and it's true that he's 6-2 with a 3.99 ERA in 8 post-season starts and 2 relief appearances, but he hasn't pitched in the playoffs since the 2002 World Series. He's certainly a guy that the Cubs potent offense should be able to hit. But then again, so was Doug Davis.

This game is pretty much business as usual for both teams. An objective analysis of the teams would tell you that the D'backs shouldn't have much of a chance tonight and that the Cubs will get themselves back into the series. And maybe that's what will happen, but if you're like me you probably just can't shake the feeling that the Diamondbacks aren't going to let things happen that easily for the Cubs or their fans.