Ted Lilly was solid in his return to the Rogers Centre, and the Cubs scored big in the 3rd and 7th innings, beating the Blue Jay 7-4 Sunday afternoon. This not only gave them the series win, but made them winners of their last six series overall. The Cubs are now at a season high 20 games over .500.

For a team with so little history against each other, you wouldn't think that there would be so much talk of bad blood. And in reality, there probably isn't. Yes, Reed Johnson was released by the Jays, before signing on with the Cubs. And yes, the Jays to two of three when the Cubs last met them in 2005. All of that is just baseball though. But Ted Lilly; now that may be a different story entirely. After years of sometimes lukewarm receptions by fans, and much-discussed troubles with manager John Gibbons during the 2006 season, Ted signed with Chicago, for effectively the same amount of money and years being offered by the Jays. His reason? Who knows to be certain, although he cited "change of scenery" as his reason. Hmm.

Lilly seemed to like the scenery just fine Sunday, throwing six shutout innings, and striking out six. While we might quibble about the five walks allowed, this was arguably his best start of the season, and now makes him 2-1 in June, with a 2.25 ERA. It's great to see that he is rounding into shape, and along with all of the Cubs starting staff, appears to just now be hitting their stride.

Who isn't hitting his stride though is Neal Cotts, who yesterday looked alot like..well, Neal Cotts. After a bit of a rocky 7th, where reliever Scott Eyre gave up his first runs allowed of the season -- on a Alex Rios sac fly to score Greg Zaun -- Neal Cotts entered in the 8th, After promptly walking Brad Wilkerson, he served up a two-run homer to Greg Zaun to make this game much more competitive than it needed to be. This forced Kerry Wood into the game to pitch the 9th, who did allow a run -- again on a sac fly; this time to Vernon Wells -- before closing out the game. I won't complain though, as the 9th allowed fans to see a John Gibbons implosion up close and personal, as he was ejected arguing a play on Marco Scutaro at 1st. It's an odd team, the Jays. Stuck in the middle; the perfect picture of mediocrity. To talented to fall to the basement, but I suspect too cheap to truly compete with the Yankees and Red Sox. It's their problem, but it's a frustrating place for a manager to be. Keep your head up John.

Cub hitters put together extended rallies in the 3rd and 7th innings, scoring three and four runs respectively. Interesting to again see Kosuke Fukudome hitting second. Readers here know I've advocated and anticipated this move for some time, and as Jim Edmonds continues to hit -- going 2-4 yesterday, with a double -- we should probably expect to see this lineup more often. Trust me. It's a good thing. Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the 7th to highlight the inning, but the scoring was really all about team, as everyone contributed offensively, as all but Mark DeRosa reached base for the Cubs.

So, after a quick pit stop in Cooperstown, NY, for the Hall of Fame game, it's on to Tampa for Battle of the Giants. The Rays have tapered off a bit since their ultra-hot start, but still have the 3rd best record in the AL. You want to find out whether the Cubs are over their road woes? Well, I suspect that three games at Tampa will help you figure it out pretty quickly.