I am contractually obligated to give this to you:

Game 19: 4/20/03

Colorado 8, San Diego 0 (ESPN)

I don’t have anything to say about this except that I’m glad the Padres are out of Coors Field. Next up, Wrigley Field, a much more reasonable place to play baseball. Which reminds me…

Okay, that’s a lame title but I’m tired and this is free, so deal already. Last week, Christian Ruzich over at The Cub Reporter threw down the glove and issued a challenge. If the Padres win the series against the Cubs, I get to write about it on his blog. If the Cubs win, he gets to write about it here.

This is the part where I’m supposed to lay down the smack, but (a) I’m not real good at it and (b) the Pads just got shut out at Coors Field. So instead I’ll ask Christian to be gentle when he takes over Ducksnorts come the end of the week.

Interesting matchups in the series. Brian Lawrence goes up against Carlos Zambrano today, in a classic finesse versus power battle. Wednesday it’s Adam Eaton and Kerry Wood. And Thursday it’ll be Oliver Perez against Matt Clement, in a showdown between wild Padre pitching prospect of the present and wild Padre pitching prospect of the past.

The Cubs are putting up some serious offensive numbers so far, and everyone is contributing. Yes, that includes Mark Grudzewhatever (.347/.380/.467) and Alex Gonzalez (.325/.373/.442). Object of endless fascination™ Corey Patterson is hacking away to the tune of .284/.308/.446. Rookie first baseman Hee Seop Choi is hitting a cool .300/.500/.675. Even Mark Bellhorn, whose overall numbers aren’t that great (.214/.370/.339), has picked it up over the past week (.391/.516/.609). Perhaps most troublesome is the fact that these guys are drawing 4.8 walks per game. Perez on Thursday is going to have his work cut out for him against this group.

Bottom line: The Cubs are playing real good baseball right now. They’re hitting well, they’re pitching well, they have Sammy Sosa. The Pads are going to have to execute to perfection if they’re to take this series, or even a single game.

Oh, and the Cubbies are going down in flames, baby! Yeah, well I tried…