With the Cardinals scuffling this week, the Cubs had their chance to cut their National League Central lead and make this weekend more interesting.

Naturally, they declined to do so. After a 7-4 loss to the Brewers Thursday afternoon, exasperated Small…

On Aug. 6, the Cubs were tied with the Cardinals for the National League Central lead. That doesn’t seem so long ago but . . .

Today they are seven games back, thanks to their 7-2 loss in Los Angeles Thursday…

All in all, this summer has progressed nicely for first-year Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo. He has installed new offensive and defensive systems, integrated his top rookies and seen his key free-agent additions become team leaders.

The Rams won their first preseason…

Pedro Martinez is ready to stage his second-half comeback. After an OK showing at the World Baseball Classic, he spent the first half of this season trying to drum up interest from contending teams.

Tipsheet was hoping the Cardinals would make…

In his last 40 games, Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano is batting .182. This is why Small Bears skipper Lou Piniella benched him three times in an eight-game span.

Soriano is not happy about that. He insists that his sore knee isn’t an issue.

“I…

The Billy Goat curse struck again.

This time it nipped Cubs pitching ace Ryan Dempster on the foot. He broke the big toe on his right foot while trying to jump onto the field to celebrate Sunday night’s victory over Milwaukee.

He failed to…

When Bill Wirtz ran the Blackhawks, there was no chance his team would steal a top scorer from the Red Wings with a 12-year, $62.8 million offer. Wirtz preferred to stand pat, count his nickels and allow his team to…

These are interesting times on the North Side of Chicago. While the Cardinals are welcoming gritty ex-Cub Mark DeRosa into the fold, the Small Bears are coming apart at the seams.

Staff ace Carlos Zambrano blew up again Sunday during a 6-0 loss…

The Cardinals were difficult to watch this week. They lost three of four games at New York and looked pretty bad doing that.

Even when they played well and pitched well, they didn’t hit. Their outfielders went cold — again.

Fortunately for…

Your cyber-correspondent tried to drum up a Vote for Pedro campaign, noting that the Cards should use some of their newfound payroll flexibility to add veteran pitcher Pedro Martinez.

He is a free agent, biding his time in the Dominican Republic while…