Someone recently said -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- that baseball teams win 60, lose 60, and their fortunes are decided by how many of the remaining 42 that they can win. It's an interesting thought, although I'll go better. That the fortunes of a team boil down to about 20-25 games that are there for their taking.  Lose too many at your own peril. My point? I sense that the 2-0 loss to the Nationals today was one of those games, and one that the Cubs will wish they had back at the end of the season.

John Lannan -- now 2-2 with the win -- seems like a promising young starter, but certainly not someone that you'd expect to hold a potent Cub offense to four hits over seven innings. And these were the only Chicago hits of the game, as Nats reliever continued to stifle the Cubs, holding them hitless and scoreless over the last two innings. It was a bad day; actually, the second awful getaway game that I've seen from them in the last week, which is something that I hope that Lou addresses. One thing that has surprised me is how readily he sends the same lineup out for an early afternoon game after a night game. You've got a nice bench Lou; let some folks play. These guys look a bit beat. Hopefully, a needed day off will help get them rested and ready for the big three-game set with the Brewers starting Tuesday night.

One bright spot that should not be forgotten though is Ted Lilly, who delivered his best performance of the season with six innings of two-run, seven K ball. Nice to see the real Ted Lilly back; I'm hoping that he'll be staying around for awhile. We need you.

Have a great day off, and let's get ready for the Brewers.