Tuesday's Cubs Notes

Random Cubs notes for this Tuesday before interleague play resumes ...

- The Cubs are in it for the long haul. Not only are they still 20 games over .500 (48-28) heading into this week’s two interleague series with Baltimore, they have won 14 straight games at home and are 6-4 since Alfonso Soriano went down with a hand injury on June 11.

Even more impressive is that the Cubs are in every game they play. Don’t believe me? Well, out of their 28 losses this season, 20 have come by less than 2 runs. And with the best offense in the National League, I don’t expect this to change anytime soon.

- Sean Marshall gets the start tonight for the Cubs in the series opener against the Orioles. Marshall is filling in for the injured Carlos Zambrano and threw seven scoreless innings in his last start at AAA Iowa. Let’s hope he keeps it up, as the Cubs could use another lefthanded arm in the starting rotation.

- Aramis Ramirez has hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games and has bumped his average up near the .300 mark. Ramirez also is making a case for his inclusion in the all-star game, as his 14 home runs rank third among MLB third basemen and his 56 RBI rank second among MLB third basemen.

Now, here's to the Cubs making it 15 straight at home ...