It was bad enough that the Cubs lost and the Cardinals won.  That was bad enough.  But the way the Cubs lost was like being cut open and having salt poured into the wound.  It was that painful.

Ted Lilly returned from the DL to pitch 6.0 innings of four hit, no run baseball.  It was beautiful and just what the Cubs needed.  The offense didn’t do much.  They could only muster one run off of San Diego pitching, but at least they had the lead 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning.  Then all herll broke loose thanks to closer Kevin Gregg.

In the bottom of the ninth, Gregg gave up the tying run on a doubled by Chase Headly that drove in David Eckstein.  Eckstein, the mighty midget with a .261 batting average and almost no power, was walked by Gregg to reach base.  Allowing the tying run was bad enough, but Gregg wasn’t done yet.  He intentionally walked Kevin Kouzmanoff to face right fielder Kyle Blanks.  Blanks, in his first big league season, who had just 14 RBI on the season before meeeting Kevin Gregg, hit a three-run home run to win the game in walk-off fashion for San Diego.

After the game, Lou Piniella said that he would be making a change at the closer position, likely meaning that either Carlos Marmol (who can’t find the strike zone most of the time) or Angel Guzman will become the Cubs new closer.  What will become of Kevin Gregg is yet to be seen.  Wouldn’t John Smoltz make sense at the back end of the bullpen?

The Cubs are now 6.0 games behind St. Louis in the NL Central.  They are 4.0 back of Colorado who was idle last night.

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My plan from yesterday was for the Cubs to start winning series while the Cardinals fall apart.  I know it’s certainly not fool proof, but do you have a better plan?  I didn’t think so.

I know there has only been one game since my master plan was unveiled, but I had really hoped for a better start than what happened last night.  There is no margin for error.  The Cubs must turn things around immediately or the season will be lost.  Actually, it might be lost already, but I’m too stubborn to throw in the towel yet.

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Stephen Strasburg signed last night with the Washington Nationals for a record $15.1 million.  I think the signing is good for everyone involved.  Strasburg signed for a record amount and Washington got the deal done for a “reasonable” amount.  Scott Boras mad a lot of money for himself, so everyone wins.

According to Bill Shaikin annd Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times, Strasburg’s contract breaks down like this:

• $7.5 million signing bonus paid in three installments
• Pro-rated salary of $400,000 for remainder of 2009 season
• $2.0 million guaranteed salary in 2010
• $2.5 million guaranteed salary in 2011
• $3.0 million guaranteed salary in 2012

The next question to be answered is when will Strasburg make his debut for Washington?  Consensus opinion seems to be that with just a little work in the minors, Strasburg will be ready to face big league hitters.  But the minor league season is over in just a couple of weeks (end of August), so that doesn’t give Strasburg much time to get stretched out (he hasn’t pitched in a game since May), get some minor league work, and then get to the majors. 

Washington is probably anxious to showcase their new investment, but I think it makes more sense to get him some work at Washington’s minor league camp with an eye toward having him work his first big league game next year.  Of course, that’s easy for me to say.  I didn’t just spend $15.1 million on the lad.