Come To Think of It...Giant Opportunities Await the Cubs

On first glance, the best medicine for the Cubs, who are nursing their wounds coming off a fresh three-game slap in the face by the White Sox, would be facing the lowly San Francisco Giants.

Ah, but looks can be deceiving.

Before we get to that, however, let's have some good news. We could certainly use some. Carlos Zambrano declared himself ready after throwing a pain-free session in the bullpen. He will likely pitch in the following series against the Cardinals. 

Sorry, that's about all the good news. The Cubs got swept by the Sox. Mark Mulder is coming back to the Cardinals. Pujols came back last week. Eyre has joined Soriano and Johnson on the DL.

And while you might think the Giants should be a very beatable opponent, and a cure to the Cubs road woes, given their 36-46 overall record and lousy 14-24 record at home, consider the following.

Have you heard that we will also be without our leading RBI man Aramis Ramirez for a time? The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Sunday night that the slugger has asked for time off to take care of a personal matter in the Dominican Republic, and he will miss the next three games against the Giants in San Francisco.

Given the timing of it, this news doesn't sit well with me at all. In fact, it sits about as well as his hitless performance against the D-Backs in last year's playoffs.

Now, back to the matchup.

On the surface, it's a first-place club battling a third-place team. Yet in reality, it's two sub-.500 teams going at it, considering the Giants' record at home and the Cubs' awful 16-23 record on the road.

And the Cubs have lost five in a row, dropping eight out of 12 overall. So it's not as easy as it seems.

Next, consider the pitching matchups.

Tonight, it's a duel of two struggling left-handers, as Barry Zito goes against Ted Lilly. After a horrendous start, which included a brief trip to the bullpen, the $126-million bust was much better in his last start. Zito gave up one run in six-and-two-thirds innings of Wednesday's 4-1 win in Cleveland, and he had a 1.80 ERA against the Cubs last year in two starts.

Lilly has a 6.08 career ERA against the Giants in four starts.

Then, on Tuesday, the inconsistent Jason Marquis pitches for the Cubs, coming off of an outing in which he gave up seven runs in four innings. His counterpart is Matt Cain. The big right-hander has a 4-6 record with a 4.44 ERA this season.

The key to beating Cain is to get men on base. He has struggled when under pressure. With the sacks empty, opponents are hitting just .224. But with runners on base—in any situation with any number of outs—Cain's batting average against jumps to .295. 

The Cubs also have to face young stud Tim Lincecum in the series. Owner of a 9-1 record with a sparkling 2.38 ERA, the 24-year-old right-hander has struck out 114 in 109.2 innings. He is coming off of an 11-strikeout shutout of the A's on Saturday.

All in all, a very winnable series suddenly looks a lot more challenging than envisioned. And it's a series the Cubs need badly. Come to think of it, it's a giant series for the Cubs.