Wednesday morning notes

* I didn't mean to offend Clayton Kershaw. I really didn't. Here I was in the last week or two, frustrated with the Dodgers and their underperforming ways, and I said that Kershaw should finish out his season in the minors, pitch a couple more times, and then just be shut down for the rest of the season. The kid has thrown close to 150 innings, and I figured that would be enough for a twenty year old phenom who has had some big league success, but has not stood above the rest of the starters. He has been way above average for a twenty year old kid, no denying that, but Kershaw has only arguably been one of the top five starters for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not definitely. Arguably

Well, what do I know, as soon as I got done saying that, Kershaw goes out in his first start in September and dominates, reminding all of us why Joe Torre and the Dodgers are sticking with him in the heat of a division title race. Sorry Clayton, if you are going to pitch like that, by all means, take the ball and get out there. The spotlight is yours. 

Kershaw was outstanding last night in an 8-4 win over the San Diego Padres; that was the best he has been with the Dodgers. In fact, Kershaw actually pitched better than how his line score reads, which already indicates a good performance. Officially, Kershaw went seven-plus innings, 3 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, and 6 strike outs. Kershaw left the game after walking the first two hitters in the top of the eighth and, with the score 8-1, Ramon Troncoso came on and didn't get an out, allowing the two inherited runners to score. But that is irrelevant, really. 

Kershaw was ahead most of the night, throwing 66 of his 99 pitches for strikes, and most importantly, he showed the best command of his fast ball he has had all season. Not only did Kershaw challenge the Padres and come at them 93-96 mph gas, he put it on the corners most of the time. When catcher Russell Martin called for the fast ball inside, Kershaw put it there on the inside corner, and the hitter could only swing and miss or break his bat and sting his hands in the process. The choice was his. What a nice guy, this Clayton Kershaw. 

The curve ball was sharp, it had depth, and Kershaw showed two variations of it. He threw a "get-me-over" curve ball early in the count to try and steal a strike, and when he was ahead looking for the punch out, he threw the devastating breaking ball that whistled on its way past the bat. Just a tease. All of that is without mentioning the change up, which is a pretty good third pitch, although he doesn't throw it often. But, by all means, what a performance. 

The Dodgers have won four in a row, are 1.5 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West, and have the Diamondbacks coming into town for three games this weekend. Like we said here the other day, the division is there for the taking this weekend, if the Dodgers want it. I know that there will still be twenty-something games to play after this series with Arizona, and theoretically, the Dodgers could lose their lead, but I don't believe it for one reason in particular. As Ballpark Banter laid out last week, the schedule is soft. The Dodger's schedule the rest of the way is as easy as it gets. San Francisco, San Diego, Pittsburgh. All the patsies. The only guy that scares me out of that group is Tim Lincecum. The Dodgers should be able to manage if they take care of business this weekend.

* ESPN.com's Buster Olney touched on the Cubs this morning and  their growing reasons for concern. Carlos Zambrano skipped his last start due to what the team called a "tired arm", and Zambrano left his start last night after pitching five innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits. Zambrano complained of having a sore arm after last night's start, a game the Cubs dropped to the Houston Astros, 9-7.

Look, there surely is some cause for concern right now in Wrigleyville. They are have lost four in a row and are a poor performance today away from being swept at home by Houston, their ace has a sore arm, Rich Harden is being shut down for a week or two in order to save his arm and, hopefully, keep him healthy for the playoffs. Kosuke Fukudome has hit .216 with a .318 OBP in the last four weeks. We got it, there are some concerns.

But I'm not overly worried like some are. Alfonso Soriano is hitting .279 with a .496 SLG since August 1, Aramis Ramirez is staking his claim as one of baseball's most underrated hitters. Derek Lee and Geovani Soto are boppers in the middle of the lineup that can do some serious damage when guys ahead of them get on, Ryan Theriot is a solid player, so is Mark DeRosa. The bullpen is arguably the best in baseball, with three toxic arms at the back end. So there are a lot of things to like about this club.

The Cubs still have a 4.5 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, so they have a little cushion to work with here. Chicago isn't as invincible today as we thought they were three weeks ago. That's a fact. But what is important is that they are better than their competition, and the goal at the outset of the season isn't to win the World Series. Of course, that is what everyone is shooting for in the end, but it shouldn't be the goal. That's too big, too out of reach because a lot of factors come into play.

What should the goal be? Make the playoffs. That's it. Be at the ballpark when your calendar turns to October and not on your sofa or on a fishing trip. If you get into the post season, you have a chance to win it all, and I don't care what anyone says. The game has proven that to us. Look at the Angels in 2002, the Marlins in 2003, the Red Sox in 2004, the Cardinals in 2006. Almost every championship of this decade came from a team who found how to get in the playoffs and then get hot, with the exception of the 2000 Yankees, '05 White Sox, and '07 Red Sox. The '01 Diamonbacks weren't supposed to win that Series; heck, the Yankees had Mariano Rivera on the mound in the ninth inning of Game 7 with a lead. What are the odds of that one?

The '03 Marlins were not supposed to beat the Yankees. It just so happened that a kid named Josh Beckeet found his way to the ballpark, and a freight train named Dontrelle Willis whirled and hurled himself to the top of the post season pedestal . Even the Red Sox last year, a team that was far and away better than anybody else, had the most improbable opponent in the Colorado Rockies. 

So, yes, there is some reason for concern for the Cubs, but I don't see as much of it as some others do. The mantra is the same for the good teams, the bad teams, the mediocre teams: find a way to get to October. If you get to October, you are a couple dominant pitching performances or a couple bases-loaded doubles away from having a chance at winning the World Series. That's how it goes in a five or seven game series; the hottest team always wins. Sometimes that hottest team just happens to be the best team, and therefore we are not surprised, and sometimes it happens to be the wild card team, and we are left with a great story. In October, nobody is asking you to be the better team over the course of 162 games. You need to be the better team over the course of seven games. Any team is capable of that if they have a chance. As long as the Cubs are breathing when the playoffs arrive, I still believe they come out of the National League.