Cubs Off to a Great Start

The Chicago Cubs this year seem to know what's important, winning games early. After completing a sweep of the division rival St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs are 4 and 1.
Here's the story from the Cubs website:

CHICAGO -- Imagine having a tornado drop a large tree into your living room, then having to face St. Louis closer Jason Isringhausen with the game on the line.
That's the kind of nightmarish, dream-like weekend Michael Barrett had.

On Friday, in the Chicago Cubs' home opener, Barrett caught Greg Maddux, who pitched masterfully for the win. On Saturday, he hit a game-tying pinch-hit home run against the St. Louis Cardinals. He topped that Sunday night when he belted his second career grand slam in the eighth inning to help post an 8-4 win and sweep the series.

And Barrett did so after learning that a tree had crashed into his living room Friday in his Alpharetta, Ga., home, because of a tornado that ripped through the neighborhood.

Isringhausen (0-1) came into the game with none out and one on, and walked both Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, neither intentionally, to set up Barrett's blast, which cleared the left-field bleachers.

"I've never seen him that wild," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said of Isringhausen, who had 39 saves last season. "Anybody is capable of losing their control. He doesn't lose it that often. I don't think I've seen him blow one ever. We'll just take it and savor it."

Barrett wasn't thinking home run or even extra-base hit, or even about his upcoming remodeling bill.

"As good as his stuff is, I'm not thinking anything but try to put a good swing on it, and I just ran into one," he said. "When [Isringhausen] loaded the bases like that and I came up to hit, and the first pitch he laid in for a strike, I thought, 'Here we go, he's back on track.' I expected him coming at me with his best stuff, and he did.

"The last pitch there, I know it's not where he wanted it because it was a little more of the plate," Barrett said. "I think because I wasn't trying to do anything but put a good swing on the ball, that's why the ball jumped out."

It's the first time the Cubs have swept the Cardinals at Wrigley Field since June 5-7, 2001, and it served as career win No. 1,110 for Baker.