Filed: September 19th, 2008

Take my hand, I'll lead you to the promised land,
Take my hand, I'll give you immortality,
Eternal youth, I'll take you to the other side,
To see the truth, the path for you is decided

Heaven can wait,
Heaven can wait,
Heaven can wait,
Heaven can wait til another day.

A little vintage Iron Maiden -- guess the title? It came to mind watching the hot mess that was the Cubs-Cardinals game Friday afternoon, a Cubs 12-6 loss that meant little in the grand scheme of things. It was just so ugly to watch.

Call me simple -- others have before -- but I've been wondering all week why Carlos Zambrano wasn't pushed back a few days. He's fresh off the disabled list, went way over his pitch count limit in his no-hitter Sunday, and would probably be better aligned for his playoff start if you started him say...Sunday. You start him again the following Friday for a few innings, and then set him loose for the NLDS, which starts when...the next Wednesday? Makes sense to me. Instead, Lou Piniella decided to send him out there today, even with him running around the globe the last few days for his grandmother's funeral in Venezuela. Needless to say, Carlos got tagged.

Now, I've seen strange things this season in following the Cubs, most of which were in their favor. Some of course weren't: Mark Kotsay hitting for the cycle, Willie Harris beating the Cubs with a grand slam, a .176 hitting Greg Norton clobbering Ted Lilly for a three-run homer. But when Zambrano gave up a grand slam to Adam Kennedy -- Adam #%#$%#%!! Kennedy -- in the first inning, you knew he shouldn't have been out there. Kennedy -- who was something of a hot topic himself, having this week publicly requested an off-season trade  -- was 4-5, and pretty much burned the Cubs all day. But Carlos bore the brunt, between the slam, and an RBI-single in the second, before Carlos was mercifully yanked. He'd get tagged for eight runs in all, and even drew the anger of Piniella in the process, when he attempted to run off the mound before Lou arrived to take the ball. Emotions. Emotions. Emotions.

You can pretty much figure out the rest. The Cubs went to the back-half of the bullpen, and they were lit up. Sean Marshall was alright in an inning-plus of work, but Angel Guzman looked overmatched, and Kevin Hart was shaky. What's happened to his fastball? I mean, this wasn't a good Cardinals team, featuring Felipe Lopez in cleanup, and Adam Kennedy -- a career second baseman --  in right.  Carlos maybe gets a pass, but you expect your guys to do better against this sort of hodgepodge lineup.

Things were so bad that Lou lifted pretty much all the starters wholesale in the fifth, really just clearing out the bench. Kosuke Fukudome was able to come up with a pinch-hit, good for an RBI. And while Casey McGehee is still waiting on his first major-league hit, he did collect a pair of RBIs on groundouts.

Well, I've said more about this game than it deserves already. Go. Enjoy the night. Root for the Reds, who are playing the Brewers tonight. And tune in to Fox tomorrow. If you're lucky, you can see the Cubs clinch at home, and on national TV at that.