• 51 games
• 21 at bats
• 60 hits
• 36 runs
• 11 doubles
• 15 homeruns
• 40 rbi’s
• 15 walks
• 46 strikeouts
• 7 stolen bases
• .283 batting average
• .332 on base percentage
• .547 slugging

When the Cubs bring home their first-half report card, look for a lot of A’s.

Unless they get stuck with a stingy teacher grading on a curve against the ‘27 Yankees, how could they not?

Eight all-stars, a 4-game lead in the NL Central, league-leading run-differential and on-base percentage - it all adds up to sharing the best record in baseball with the Los Angeles Angels (57-38).

“We’ve had a lot of adversity to overcome,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. “(Alfonso) Soriano has been on the disabled list twice, (Carlos) Zambrano was on the DL, we lost (Rich) Hill for basically the whole first half. And the team is still functioning and holding its own. It’s a credit to our players. There’s some chemistry here and it’s shown in our performance.”

All those wins cover up some numbers that aren’t so pretty.

“I think winning solves a lot of problems. I know myself personally when I look at some of those numbers they are mind-blowing,” said Mark DeRosa, calling his 71 strikeouts ‘ridiculous.’ “Winning cures all that.”

Feeling better: Closer Kerry Wood, out with a blister on his right index finger, hopes to be back Friday against Houston. He said he felt better Sunday after soaking his finger again Saturday night.

“It started three weeks ago and gradually got worse,” Wood said. “I’m dealing with it every day, trying to get it ready.”

He ripped the blister open last weekend against St. Louis, and it has “been pretty sensitive since.”

Numbers game: Already with a 13-man pitching staff, the Cubs face another decision after left-handed reliever Scott Eyre continued his rehabilitation assignment by pitching 2 innings for Western Michigan on Sunday.

Manager Lou Piniella said he isn’t sure what the Cubs will do with a bullpen that already has lefties Sean Marshall and Neal Cotts.

Piniella is more certain about his rotation. Ted Lilly, Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster will start the second half, followed by Rich Harden and Jason Marquis.

The rotation is lined up for the two teams chasing the Cubs in the NL Central. Lilly, Zambrano, Dempster and Harden are scheduled to face Milwaukee July 28-31, and Lilly, Zambrano and Dempster will get St. Louis Aug. 8-10.

Blame the wind: The Cubs haven’t lost much at Wrigley Field this year. Their 37-12 start at home is their best since they started playing at Wrigley in 1916.

But when they do lose, it usually is with a crosswind, either blowing from the southeast or northwest. The wind blew from the northwest Sunday and the Cubs lost, dropping them to 5-5 with a cross wind.

They are 10-3 when the wind blows out and 22-4 when it blows in.

No place for anyone else in this corner of a hotel ballroom on All-Star media day. Sort of like the game itself — there’s a bunch of Boston Red Sox, a cluster of Chicago Cubs, and a few stragglers.

Seems that way, anyhow.

“You feel kind of bad. There are some guys here who don’t have any teammates here,” Cubs closer Kerry Wood said, glancing in the direction of Pittsburgh outfielder Nate McLouth. “I have seven of them.”

A National League record-tying eight Cubs players will be at Yankee Stadium for Tuesday night’s game. Add in their manager, with Piniella serving as an NL coach.

Ortiz was among seven Red Sox players on the AL side. Throw in AL manager Terry Francona and a half-dozen Boston coaches.

“We’re honored, as a staff and as the players, to represent not only the Red Sox but the American League,” Francona said.

At this rate, maybe the Cubs and Red Sox should just hold their own game. They’re tied, along with the Los Angeles Angels, for the most wins in the majors.

There are other links between them, too.

“Two lovable franchises that have been around a long time. Two old ballparks. A big fan base that follows them around. Really, there are a lot similarities between us,” Piniella said.

“There’s only one thing that’s not similar: They’ve won a couple of championships in the last few years and we’re still searching,” he said.

They haven’t seen each other much, either.

Since the advent of interleague play 10 years ago, they’ve met for only one series, in 2005 at Wrigley Field. The Cubs haven’t visited Fenway Park since Babe Ruth and Boston beat them in the 1918 World Series.

“That’s a place I’d like to see,” Wood said. “I’m not sure how they set up the interleague schedules, but maybe they could flip-flop so we got to go there. It’d be huge, us and the Red Sox.”

The Red Sox drew a rough reception when they took batting practice Monday night. Boston’s J.D. Drew, Jason Varitek and Dustin Pedroia heard plenty of boos from the rival Yankees fans. So did the Red Sox mascot.

Mostly what they expected.

“I don’t think it’s going to be real positive,” Drew predicted earlier.

Making themselves at home in the Yankees’ home clubhouse, that was the odd part for the Bosox.

Ortiz moved into Jorge Posada’s locker, Varitek got Kyle Farnsworth’s cubicle, Jonathan Papelbon took over Brian Bruney’s space and Dustin Pedroia dressed in Wilson Betemit’s spot.

Manny Ramirez? He got the locker used by former Yankees batting practice pitcher Charlie Wonsowicz, now the team’s director of video operations.

While Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis predicted it would be weird walking into the Yankees turf, Varitek said it wasn’t so strange.

“I think it would be different if it were a clubhouse full of Yankees,” Varitek said. “It was really nice.”

Ortiz will merely be a spectator come gametime. The big DH is out with a bad wrist, even though he connected for eight straight home runs during BP on Monday night.

Wood and Chicago teammate Alfonso Soriano also are sidelined with injuries. That still leaves lots of room for other Cubs — outfielder Kosuke Fukudome and catcher Geovany Soto will start, and the NL roster includes pitchers Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Carlos Marmol and third baseman Aramis Ramirez.

The 1958 New York Yankees hold the All-Star record with nine representatives.

Without much crossover between the teams, Wood said he didn’t know any of the Red Sox very well. He’d like a chance to see that classic “B” hat again — in person, in October.

Same for Piniella.

“It’d really be something,” he said. “But it’d be great to get to the World Series against anyone.”

Monday: Ted Lilly v. Barry Zito

Tuesday: Jason Marquis v. Matt Cain

Wednesday: Ryan Dempster v. Kevin Correia

Thursday: Sean Gallagher v. Tim Lincecum

Friday: Carlos Zambrano v. Braden Looper

Saturday: Ted Lilly v. Kyle Lohse

Sunday: Jason Marquis v. Todd Wellemeyer

Should be a fun, and exciting week for the Cubs!

Zambrano, 8-3 with a 3.13 ERA, went on the 15-day disabled list earlier this month with a right shoulder strain and likely will be activated to start July 4 in St. Louis.

He’ll throw one more session on the side Tuesday in San Francisco.

“I feel great today. I guess ‘Z’ is back,” Zambrano said, adding that he threw with no limitations. “I’m ready to go out there and do my job.”

Zambrano had to leave a game against the Rays on June 18 with discomfort in the shoulder and tests revealed no structural damage. He was placed on the DL June 21, retroactive to June 19 — just the second trip to the DL in his career for Zambrano.

The Cubs have struggled with injuries lately. Outfielders Alfonso Soriano and Reed Johnson and reliever Scott Eyre are also on the disabled list.

The Cubs made a little run, and how about Jim Edmonds and another 3 run bomb!?  Sean Marshall was roughed up a bit, but that’s expected from a guy that gets jerked from minors to bullpen to minors to majors, and thrown in as a starter.

Like I said, time for a new streak tonight!

Rampant offseason trade rumors had him on the verge of joining the Chicago Cubs—and whether they were on target or not—he showed Tuesday night why he attracted so much interest.

Roberts had three hits to reach 1,000 for his career, closer George Sherrill struck out the side after the Cubs loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and the Orioles ended Chicago’s 14-game home-field winning streak with a 7-5 victory.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” Roberts said. “The fans love their baseball. … What we dealt with for four months you think about it a little bit. It’s just a fun night to be part of.”

The Orioles led 7-1 before it got tense over the last few innings, especially the ninth.

Chicago loaded the bases off Sherrill on Geovany Soto’s single, a walk to Mark DeRosa and Ryan Theriot’s infield single before the left-hander found his strikeout pitch and got his 26th save in 29 chances.

He struck out Ronny Cedeno, Kosuke Fukudome and Henry Blanco to end the game.

“It makes it a little more stressful, but I don’t get nervous out there,” Sherrill said. “I get nervous when it’s someone else, not me.”

Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose team lost at home for the first time since May 17, wasn’t happy with his team’s final three at-bats.

“It was a good comeback. We got too far behind. … We didn’t have three good at-bats with the bases loaded. We didn’t swing at strikes,” Piniella said.

“We got to put the ball in play and we couldn’t,” Blanco said. “You do the best you can. This guy has 26 saves in the big leagues and you knew it wouldn’t be easy.”

Roberts had two singles and his sixth triple of the season, giving him 1,000 hits.

“I didn’t really think about it. But if it is a big hit, it makes it a little more significant,” Roberts said. “It didn’t seem like it at the time, but later in the game it turned out to be.”

Roberts, for sure, heard the trade rumors. He couldn’t help but do so during the offseason.

“I thought I was going to be a Cub in December,” Roberts said before the game. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. … Once the season started you just kinda go out and play your spot and the rest will take care of itself. I really haven’t thought about in a long time.”

Jeremy Guthrie (4-7) allowed only four hits and a run over the first six innings as the Orioles took a 7-1 lead.

But he was driven out in the seventh when Jim Edmonds hit a three-run homer after singles by Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, slicing the lead to 7-4. After a walk, reliever Jim Johnson got DeRosa to hit into Chicago’s fourth double play of the night to douse the rally.

Ramirez hit an RBI single in the eighth and the Cubs still had two on before Sherrill relieved and got pinch-hitter Matt Murton to fly out.

Cubs’ starter Sean Marshall (0-1)—just recalled from Triple-A—lasted only 4 2-3 innings, giving up seven hits and four runs. The Orioles went up by six with three unearned runs in the sixth off reliever Michael Wuertz.

Luke Scott hit a two-run triple, a liner that got by right fielder Kosuke Fukudome in the fourth. It followed a walk and single by Ramon Hernandez.

Fukudome hit his sixth homer leading off the fourth to make it 2-1.

Roberts singled in the fifth and scored on Nick Markakis’ RBI double. Markakis moved up on a fly ball and scored on Kevin Millar’s RBI single that finished Marshall and made it 4-1.

Scott was initially credited with a double in the sixth when he hit a high pop that shortstop Theriot signaled was his. But when left fielder Eric Patterson called him off late, Theriot got out of his way and the ball dropped. The official scorer changed the ruling to an error on Patterson and one out later, Alex Cintron hit an RBI double.

He scored when Roberts drove one into the gap in right center for a triple. Markakis then delivered an RBI single.

Here are the pitching matchups for the series:

Tuesday: Guthrie(3-7) 3.51 v. Marshall(0-0, 4.15)

Wednesday: Burress(6-5, 5.24) v. Lilly(7-5, 4.71)

Thursday: Liz(1-0, 6.27) v. Marquis(6-3, 4.43)

After Baltimore leaves town, the Cubs will travel acrosss town to face the White Sox in rematch of last weekends sweep. Good luck to the Cubs.

We hope to see Soriano back in action real soon!

CHICAGO — Home was never so sweet for the Cubs.

Aramis Ramirez hit a game-tying solo homer in the seventh and belted a walk-off shot leading off the ninth to power the Cubs to a 4-3 Interleague victory over their crosstown rivals, the White Sox, and snap a three-game losing streak.

“We needed to win this game,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.

With the game tied at 3 in the ninth against Scott Linebrink (2-2), Ramirez launched a 1-0 pitch to straightaway center field for the game winner.

“That’s part of my job,” Ramirez said. “I’m a cleanup hitter, I’m a RBI man, and people expect me to do that. I just concentrate a little more with men in scoring position or a tie ballgame.”

Piniella didn’t exactly call a home run. But he was hoping for one.

“One thing I told [bench coach Alan Trammell] was if [Ramirez] got on base, we weren’t going to bunt,” Piniella said of the ninth-inning strategy. “We were looking for some extension, and that’s exactly what we got.”

Kerry Wood (4-1) picked up the win, which improved the Cubs’ record to 30-8 at Wrigley Field.

“We have confidence,” Piniella said about the home-field advantage. “We’ve been able to come from behind, and today was no exception. Our big boys got the job done today which was good to see.”

The Cubs had sent starter Ted Lilly back to Chicago on Thursday, while the rest of the team didn’t get home until early Friday morning after a three-game series against Tampa Bay. Wrigley’s real grass felt good after six straight games on artificial turf, and the 31-minute rain delay before first pitch gave the players a little more nap time.

Friday’s win was just what the Cubs needed.

“We’d lost three in a row, we got back home late, but our guys dug in and hung in there. And we got good pitching, and that was a key,” Piniella said. “We didn’t allow the White Sox to tack on runs, and that was a key.”

This was a showdown between the leaders of their respective Central Divisions. This is the first time the two teams have been in first place for the intracity series.

“To be honest, I don’t think we’re thinking about where they are, or what they’re doing,” Lilly said. “We’ve got our mission, and that’s whoever is out there on the field, we need to beat them just to make sure we win our division.

“They obviously have a good club, and it’s not surprising that they’re in first,” Lilly said of the White Sox. “They have very good pitching, and a strong lineup. I would think they’re going to play well and we’ll see what happens.

“There’s no point talking about October right now,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re going to be around for awhile.”

Lilly may not want to bring up a possible postseason matchup, but it is probably on the minds of the 41,106 who crammed into Wrigley for Game 1 of this six-game, home-and-road series.

The Cubs struck first, as leadoff man Kosuke Fukudome chopped an infield single that didn’t get past the pitcher’s mound, advanced on Ryan Theriot’s single, and scored when Derrek Lee grounded into a double play.

Jermaine Dye tied the game with a leadoff homer in the second, and with one on and one out in the third, A.J. Pierzynski gave the White Sox a 3-1 lead with his fifth homer. Lilly served up both. He struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and three walks.

The Cubs woke up in the seventh. Lee launched reliever Octavio Dotel’s first pitch into the right-field bleachers leading off, and Ramirez followed with his 11th homer five pitches later to tie the game at 3. It’s the second time this year Lee and Ramirez have hit back-to-back blasts; they also did so April 11 in Philadelphia. Dotel had given up two home runs total over 33 1/3 innings before Friday.

“Once we tied it up,” Lilly said, “it was hard for me not to believe we were going to get it done at some point in the game.”

Which is just what Ramirez did, reminding fans of his walk-off against the Brewers last June 29 at Wrigley, a two-out, two-run shot off Francisco Cordero.

“Any time you hit a walk-off is special,” Ramirez said.

Yes, it is.

“We’ve been playing a lot of exciting finishes lately,” Piniella said.