Cubs manager Lou Piniella must not have slept well last night.

The Cubs opened a nine-game road trip by blowing a 5-0 eighth-inning lead Tuesday night at Atlanta. The Braves tied the game on Jeff Francoeur’s two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning — after Garret Anderson struck out, then reached on a wild pitch.

Ouch. The Braves finally prevailed 6-5 in 12 innings.

“They came back on us and, really, we just gave them the ballgame with a nice little ribbon,” Piniella told reporters afterward.

Some points of interest:

• The Cubs have lost seven games in a row. They have fallen back to .500 for the season, at 25-25.
• The bullpen has blown 8 of 19 save opportunities. “It’s unacceptable, but we’re going to roll with it,” closer Kevin Gregg told the Chicago Tribune “It’s one of those things that happens now and then, but on the whole, look at the way the group has pitched down there.”
• Volatile pitching ace Carlos Zambrano missed the team flight to Atlanta as he finished out his six-game NL suspension. He made it to the game, but Piniella called on the carpet for that transgression.
• Against all odds, “outfielder” Milton Bradley suffered another leg muscle strain. What is it about “the guy is a DH” that Cubs management didn’t understand before signing him as a free agent? He has been on the disabled list 12 times since 2002.

OCHOCINCO VOWS REDEMPTION!

Once upon a time, Chad Johnson was one of the most explosive offensive players in the NFL. He was a hero to fantasy football managers from coast to coast.

But then the Bengals wide receiver turned himself into a novelty act. Not content to make headlines with his on-field celebrations, he changed his name to Chad Ochocinco and tried to talk his way out of Cincinnati.

The result: He caught just 53 passes for 540 yards last season, the Bengals went 4-11-1 and Cincy quarterback Carson Palmer sounded ready to write him off this year.

But Johnson, er, Ochocinco insists that 2009 will be a whole different story.

“Last year was very humbling for me; it was an embarrassment,” he told the NFL Network. “It’s not just for myself, but for the rest of the city and the team. So before I go back, I want to be in just unbelievable form before I even touch the green grass.

“Words cannot describe the type of shape I’m in right now. Words cannot describe the type of season I’m going to have. I’m telling you ahead of time.”

Of course, he hasn’t actually worked out with his teammates during this off-season, so we don’t know if this is just more idle chit-chat from this fallen star.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Dave Checketts wheels and deals:

• While Checketts is out raising capital, will he make sure the Blues have enough cash to keep team leader Keith Tkachuk in place for another year?
• Does anybody else believe the NHL helped the Penguins rally Tuesday night to make the Stanley Cup Finals more interesting? Were the officials in on the Sidney Crosby marketing program?
• So how did former baseball great Hank Aaron end up in that new Florida Panthers ownership group? Did he really fall in love with hockey watching the Thrashers play in Atlanta?
• Should the billion-dollar college sports industry have so many nit-picking rules for student-athletes?
• Are we the only ones wondering why Los Angeles has a NBA team called the “Lakers”?

MOURNING LEBRON’S EXIT

The NBA marketing people are still coming to terms with losing the LeBron James-Kobe Bryant showdown for the Finals.

FAVRE + VICK = PEN PALS?

No, this isn’t the case in real life. But syndicated columnist Norman Chad wondered how the exchanges between Brett Favre and Michael Vick would read.

Here was one of the passages he imagined:

Dear Brett:

I thought you got a lot of ESPN coverage, but those people put a mini-cam in my garbage disposal, plus when I opened up the fridge this morning, I could’ve sworn I saw Ed Werder next to the Miracle Whip.

Dear Michael:

Looked in the mirror today and said to myself, “You are retired.” (Not!) Sure, I have a partially torn biceps muscle, but like I was telling my agent, Bus Cook – I can throw spectacular interceptions with or without a good arm. Hell, it’s not as if lives are at stake, I’m just putting some fans in the stands; hopefully, they’re all wearing Wranglers.

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Bill Simmons, ESPN.com, the fall of David Ortiz: “Remember in Superman II when Clark Kent gave up his superpowers so he could be with Lois Lane — lesson No. 184 on how women ruin everything — and then a bully beat the crap out of the suddenly mortal superhero in a diner? That’s been Big Papi since Opening Day. What makes it stranger is that he still looks like Big Papi. Same bulky build. Same goofy beard. Same happy smile. Same batting stance. This isn’t like the Ultimate Warrior returning after the then-WWF’s first steroids scandal with a jarringly smaller physique. Everything looks the same with Ortiz, only Mario Mendoza has switched brains with him.”

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “Dodgers owner Frank McCourt says it would be ‘an honor’ for Manny Ramirez to represent the team at the All-Star Game in St. Louis. And I’m wondering how a guy like McCourt ever got rich in the first place. I mean, is this how you treat a guy who stole from you?”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Kavya Shivashanka, 13, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee — the seventh Indian-American in the past 11 years to do so. Kavya will be doing heart surgery next year while your teen is in her room on Facebook and listening to Disturbed.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Is Michael Vick the world’s richest poor man? He’s millions in debt, yet when sprung from prison, Vick was met by several members of his personal security team, dressed in expensive suits, and he was driven to his mansion in a luxury car. He’s got a team of lawyers and advisers. Vick really knows how to budget the $400-per-week salary from that construction job he hasn’t started.”

MEGAPHONE

“Reflecting back on everything that I’ve been through in the last year, I think I can sit here and say I’m pretty proud of what I’ve achieved. I’ve just got to keep working and keep my head up, just go on a practice court and hits millions of balls.”

Maria Sharapova, coming to terms with her French Open exit.