Carlos Zambrano's Win over Milwaukee Should Shift Focus to Weekend Series

Anyone with cable TV and the slightest sports inclination knows that ESPN has been shellacking the dead horses of three subsequent sports stories over the past week: the Brett Favre debacle, Manny Ramirez trade rumors, and the currently ongoing National League Central four-game showdown series between the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers. 

And yet, the seemingly warranted buildup to this pivotal series seems all for naught as the Chicago Cubs, under the pitching of Ted Lilly, Chad Gaudin, and rotation ace Carlos Zambrano, have taken the first two games.

Game One: Cubs 6—Brewers 4

The stage was set for two good, if not great, pitching matchups in these first two games, starting with Ted Lilly against the Brew Crew's newly acquired ace C.C. Sabathia. 

The pair of lefties pitched well into the ballgame, both coming out of the game after giving up the lead in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh innings respectively. 

The Brewers reclaimed the lead on a solo home run from Russel Branyan in the bottom of the seventh. But after Solomon Torres walked both Soriano and pinch hitter Mike Fontenot, Derrek Lee slashed a double into the right field corner to score the winning run, with an insurance run being added on an RBI single by Mark DeRosa. 

The Cubs' bats defrosted quickly after their tough road trip and short four-game homestand following the All-Star Break where it appeared that the Lovable Losers couldn't buy a hit with double what they pay Soriano.  They found timely hits, and a long solo blast by Mr. Soriano to get the win in a tug-of-war battle, 6-4.

Game Two: Cubs 7—Brewers 1

After the ninth inning nail biter on Monday night, Tuesday's matchup of Zambrano and Sheets promised to be a pitchers' duel into the late innings, and for the first half of the game it did not disappoint. 

Only one run had been allowed by the start of the sixth inning on an RBI single again by DeRosa, scoring Aramis Ramirez who had reached third base on a double and a wild pitch. 

However, in the top of the sixth inning, the floodgates opened. After seven-straight hits to start the inning, when the dust finally settled the Cubs were on top, 7-0.  The Brewers would plate one run in the ninth on an RBI double by Mike Cameron to score Russel Branyan who had drawn a two-out walk from Jeff Samardzija, finishing with a final of 7-1.

What all of this means for the Cubs is that they have guaranteed themselves the full share of first place in the NL Central when they square off against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field this weekend, regardless of what happens in these next two games.

The collective gasps and cries of, "We want to sweep them!" from diehard Cubs fans can be heard from here. Rest assured, I am not trying to say they should roll over and play dead. 

Both teams will face sub-par opponents in each of their next two series. Yet the disparity can be seen when noticing that the next true challenge of the Brewers comes two weeks from now in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. After this they will spend the rest of the month mopping up the lower reaches of the Central Division.

This is excluding a two-game mid-week series in St. Louis, whereas the Cubs play the aforementioned Cardinals in a weekend series at Wrigley. The Cubs then will finish out the month swapping opponents with the Brew Crew, and capping off August with a four-game home series against the NL East Middleweight Philadelphia Phillies.

Sure, the Cubs can play their collective hearts out and take three of four, or even sweep the Brewers in Milwaukee this week. But what does that leave in the tank for next week and the weeks beyond? 

Whereas Milwaukee is all but finished with their season series against the Cardinals, the Cubs still have three subsequent three-game series against St. Louis.

The Cubs no doubt have the harder schedule looking to the end of the season, and during that span need to hold off the Brewers, who could easily regain their surge as soon as the Cubs' bus pulls onto I-94.

Just as they have had to with Kerry Wood of late, the Cubs and Lou Pinella need to be thinking long haul here. Otherwise they be remembered as akin to the 1969 Cubs who fell short in the late throws of a dominating season and were overtaken by a surging underdog in the division. 

Baseball, unlike football and other sports, has an extremely long season. Each team and player needs to prepare not only in spring, but before and after each game.  And unlike college football's BCS system, the World Series doesn't factor in strength of schedule.

Robert I is a freelance fiction writer, sports analyst, poet, and political cynic. His Blog can be found through his Facebook LiveBlog or at Our Lives In Retrospect. His sports writing can be found at Bleacher Report.