Brutal night. Positively brutal.

First the Bulls lose to New Jersey, effectively playing their way out of home court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs and playing their way into a first round match-up with Miami.

Then Carlos Zambrano and Scott Eyre do impersonations of Wade Miller and Will Ohman and the Cubs blow yet another winnable game.

And finally, of course, there was this.

Returning to the Cubs:

Great to see them come back from the early deficit. Troubling that Zambrano continues to pitch like hell. Tonight he gave up eight hits, five earned runs, five walks and an HBP in six innings. Eyre couldn't make it through the 7th inning, allowing three runs and coughing up a hard-earned 6-5 lead.

Lee and Ramirez look outstanding at the plate. (Hated to see Ramirez swing at a 3-0 pitch and hit into a double play in the first inning when Atlanta starter Kyle Davies appeared to be struggling.) Felix Pie looks just like a centerfielder, and he collected his first career triple and a walk tonight as well.

I am now fully committed to thinking of Carlos Zambrano as our fourth or fifth starter, which means our #1, Rich Hill, is going tomorrow against the eminently beatable Mark Redman.

One last item--the Braves' Peter Moylan (pictured above) is Paul Reuschel's doppelganger. The resemblance starts with the industrial weight eyeglasses and tonight, continued with Moylan's first pitch, which sailed about three feet wide of the catcher's outstretched mitt.

Just like Paulie used to chuck 'em.

Freaky.