Wait...What Just Happened?

This is going to be end up being the best week that the Cubs have had all season! They just steamrolled the Brewers in Milwaukee, and now they have to face the Pirates at home. The Pirates. At home. The Cubs are 9-3 against the Bucs. They're 5-1 at home. One of the road losses only happened because Alfonso Soriano dropped a routine fly ball with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth. The Cubs are going to be on an eight game winning streak. Woo-hoo!!!
...
Wait...
The Cubs lost? They got shut out by the Pirates? Jeff Karstens, the Pirates starter had never even thrown a major league pitch in his life. He went 6 shutout innings against the highest scoring team in the National League. He surrendered only 5 singles. What happened here? The Cubs had rolled past C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets in Milwaukee. And now they can't beat Jeff Karstens? Well, hopefully Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano can get the Cubs turned around.

The Big One: The One We've All Been Waiting For

This is it. These next four games will decide the Cubs' season. If they get swept, they're 3 games down on Milwaukee. If the Cubs sweep, they have a 5 game cushion, and magic number of 49. I know that nobody really cares about the magic number in July, but in my opinion, once it gets under 50, you should start to pay attention. A Brewers sweep would put their magic number at 50.
Tonight's game is at 7:05 CST. Lilly vs. Sabathia. As a Brewer, Sabathia has made 4 starts, and gone 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA. He has logged 33 innings, struck out 31 and allowed only 5 ER.
In Lilly's last 4 starts (3 since the Sabathia trade), he has gone 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA. He has gone 21.2 innings, struck out 20 and allowed 10 earned runs.
If the Cubs can get to Sabathia early (Soriano first pitch homer?), then the Cubs can win. Otherwise, no.