Henry Blanco hit a bases-loaded single to score Derrek Lee, and give the Cubs a thrilling 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in 11 innings Friday. The win -- the Cubs 10th in 12 games -- pushes the Cardinals to seven games back in the NL Central standings.

There was way too much Déjà Vu today. After watching Jim Edmonds abuse the Cubs over his eight seasons with the Cardinals, it was awfully good to watch him return the favor to Cardinals fans; at Wrigley Field, no less. And he did exactly that, pounding two solo home runs today, the second of which tied the game in the seventh inning. Thrilling stuff, and given some of the discord already boiling in St. Louis between he and Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, sure to be fodder for the remaining six games with them. 

And the Cubs needed both today, as they were very much on the verge of giving away another great pitching performance. It seems like the theme for the summer. Starting pitcher is lights out; gets no offense, and loses. Pitchers throws just good enough to win; Cubs win in blowout. Today was the exception. Ted Lilly was great, going seven-plus, and the bullpen proved to be stellar. And that included Bob Howry, who closed out the top of the 11th to set the Cubs up for the bottom of the inning, striking out both Troy Glaus and Yadier Molina in the process. Interestingly, they were able to take advantage of a number of Tony LaRussa miscues -- I swear it's like Manager Gone Wild lately -- to stay in the game. Tony seemed more than happy to run himself out of innings on more than one occasion. First, Caesar Izturis is tagged out at home on a botched bunt attempt in the fifth. Then Alfonso Soriano throws out Joe Mather at home, with the bases loaded, and no out in the sixth. Why anyone would chose to run on Soriano off of a lazy, medium-depth fly ball is beyond me. And doing it with the bases loaded? Bizarre. Then Albert Pujols is picked off trying to steal second in the 10th, with two out. The moves made no sense and killed potential big innings, and the Cardinals ultimately paid for it.

Remember this? The last time that we saw Henry Blanco with the bases loaded, it resulted in one of the most disappointing moments of the season. Not this time. Derrek Lee walked to start the inning, and Aramis Ramirez took a high fastball to right off of displaced closer Ryan Franklin. LaRussa then ordered Kosuke Fukudome walked to set up outs at each base, and drew the infield in. With the bases loaded, and no one out in the 11th, Henry hit a sharp single to left past Izturis to score Derrek Lee, and give the Cubs the win.

This was a great win all around, with good strong contributions from all; defense, pitching, and coaching. A couple of more games like this, and it will be time to say goodbye to the Cardinals for 2008.