Agony & Ivy

Giants 3, Cubs 0

Heroes: Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro each had two singles in three at-bats. It was Barney's 16th multi-hit game of the season and Castro's 15th.

Saturday Night's All Right for Baseball

Tonight, the first Saturday night game since June 20, 1998 will be played at Wrigley Field. In that Saturday night tilt almost 13 years ago, rookie Kerry Wood struck out 11 in 7 1/3 innings and Sammy Sosa hit his 28th and 29th home runs in a 9-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cubs 11, Giants 4

Hero: Reed Johnson, who got a rare start in right field, went 3-for-5 with a triple, drove in four, and made a spectacular catch in the second inning, slamming into the right-field wall to rob former Cub Mike Fontenot of extra bases.

May 10, 2011: Aisle 233, Row 9, Seat 110

Some random observations from my latest visit to Wrigley Field for the Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals game on Tuesday night:

Cardinals 9, Cubs 1

Hero: Jeff Baker, who started in right field, continued his phenomeanl hitting against left-handed pitching, going 3-for-4 and driving in the Cubs' only run with a sixth inning single. Baker is 16-for-31 (.516 BA) against lefties this season. Baker's three singles came against St. Louis southpaw Jaime Garcia (5-0). He lined out to first baseman Albert Pujols against right-handed reliever Mitchell Boggs in the eighth.

Pujols Right Guy for Cubs

I wish Chicago Sun-Times columnist Joe Cowley would stick to telling White Sox general manager Ken Williams how to do his job.

In Thursday's Sun-Times, Cowley, a former longtime White Sox beat writer, advised Cubs fans to not get their hopes up in regards to the North Siders signing St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols. He suggested that any Cubs fan who dares dream of Pujols donning a Cubs uniform in 2012 should "pick up the nearest stapler and punch it into your chest to help snap you back to reality."

Cubs 11, Cardinals 4

Hero: Starlin Castro went 4-for-4 with a triple, scored three times, and drove in three to break out of his slump and pace the Cubs' 17-hit attack. It was his third four-hit effort of the season.

Cardinals 6, Cubs 4

Hero: Darwin Barney went 3-for-4 (all singles), was hit by a pitch, and scored twice.

Reds 2, Cubs 0

Hero: Ryan Dempster (1-4) had his second straight solid start, allowing two runs (both earned) on five hits while striking out four and walking none.

"I'm doing a better job of executing pitches," Dempster said. "I was able to keep the ball down, for the most part, today."

Cubs 3, Reds 2

Heroes: Carlos Pena (home run) Kosuke Fukudome (double) each contributed three hits and bookended a dramatic two-run ninth inning rally off Cincinnati closer Francisco Cordero (2-1) to lead the Cubs (15-17), as Pat Hughes described it, "to their most gratifying victory of the season."