In case you missed the game today, let me feel you in.

It sucked.

When asked after the game why the team (still) wasn't hitting, Lou responded, "Go ask the players why they aren't hitting. Go ask the hitting coach."

Right on, Lou.

Today Kevin Hart (gulp) takes on Kenshin Kawakami (4-6, 4.46). Why Kevin Hart rather than someone else? Your guess is as good as mine.

As the first half of the season winds down, things are suddenly looking a whole lot rosier.

Yes, Mike Fontenot and his .230 BA is still at 2B. Yes, our bullpen is still. . . . a bit untrustworthy. Yes, we just lost Dempster for a month (that one really hurts). Yes, Kevin Hart is back on the team. But all that aside, the Cubs are (relatively healthy) and have won 6 of their last 8 and are only two games back of the evil Southern Beer Team.

As long as we're doing some fixer-upperering around here (you know, getting a real third baseman, selling Freel in a garage sale, hitting the ball), I have a request:

Can we be done with the "celebrity" 7th inning stretch?

Honestly, it was fun in the beginning. Bill Murray. Eddie Vedder. Bonnie Hunt. William Peterson. People from Chicago who love the Cubs. It made sense. It was a tribute to Harry. It fit.

Six years later, we find ourselves still enduring the off-key wailings of D-list celebrities who are usually up in the booth with Len and Bob to promote the "accidental" release of their latest celebrity sex tape or recent stint on "Rehab With Dr. Drew."

Note to the Cubs media department: Denise Richards, Sharon Osbourne, Jesse Ventura, and Kellie Pickler are not "celebrities." They are people who once did something that no one can remember and now inexplicably keep showing up on my TV screen. That's not the same thing.

"I can tell you one thing: we're gonna need a lot more cocktails!"

The second half of the season is upon us. LOHO appears to have survived intact, though Carl will be out with a flashlight and search party to bring in the rest of the stragglers. Doc, it's time to end the hunger strike. Gravedigger, come in off the ledge. Flyball, more coffee is not the answer to this season. Abe, dust off the standings flags with the Cubs at the top.

Get out your "W" flags, prepare your bragging rights, and flip it up, spin it around, and strap it down (or whatever)! I've got a good feeling about the way things are headed.

It's time to think about Act II.

Ryan Braun has weighed in (and been sent to the corner to think about what he said):

"[The Cubs] starting pitching is a lot better than ours," Braun said. "They threw the ball a lot better than our starters did. They certainly swung the bats better than we did. Clearly they were the better team. It's nice to get the one win but they clearly outplayed us and outperformed us all series."

John Kruk has weighed in:

Chicago, despite its sluggish start, is going to be fine. Derrek Lee is starting to hit better and Aramis Ramirez is back from the disabled list, both of which should aid the Cubs in their quest for the division's top spot. They might have struggled for much of the season so far, but they're the best team in that division. And it's reasonable to expect their performance in the second half to be indicative of that.

Welcome back.

Hail, hail; the gang's all here:

Aramis Ramirez would like to take credit for what happened in the first three innings -- nine baserunners and four runs -- against the Braves on Monday night.

But the truth is, he was the only one in the Cubs' lineup, including pitcher Randy Wells, who didn't reach base.

Yet it is hard to put a mental measure on what it means -- finally -- for a baseball team to have an entire lineup together, sort of a comforting cohesiveness.

The 4-2 victory was the first time since Opening Day that the projected starting eight played at once.

Is that true? That can't be true. That's true?