Apart from our learning that Carlos Zambrano could be back on the mound by September 14th, presumably minus the discomfort caused recently by his rotator cuff tendinitis, there was another positive development on the baseball front Thursday:

The Brewers lost 5-2 at home to the team with the worst record and worst road record in the National League, the woeful Padres. Compounding the Brewers' frustration was knowing that they had been conquered by the habitually woeful Shawn Estes, who was making his first start since May, when he sustained a broken thumb.

Yes, it's that Shawn Estes. The one who merited 28 starts for Dusty Baker's 2003 Cubs though his ERA was 5.73 and who missed all of the 2007 season as he recovered from Tommy John Surgery.

(In all, Tom Haudricort of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel found ten reasons for the Brewers to be profoundly bummed out by having fallen to the Pads. Read and enjoy.)

The bottom line for the Cubs on this non-playing day is that they currently enjoy a five-game lead over Milwaukee with 22 contests to come. And if there is a National League Central championship in the team's near future, it sounds as though Carlos Zambrano will be back in uniform to help toast it.