My main man, Jeff Weaver, now leads the majors in quality starts. Not that it mattered last night, because the Dodgers managed to lose the game despite his efforts. However, they took two out of three in Chicago over the weekend, and still have a 5½ game lead over the Giants, so there's no need for panic yet. I worry, though. There are reasons for concern.

First of all, Brad Penny was placed on the DL because of numbness in his forearm, the result of the biceps nerve injury he suffered in his second start with the team. That's not good, because DePodesta gave up a lot of good players to get this guy, and right now the team isn't getting a thing from him.

Second, Darren Dreifort has been a disaster so far as the setup man. It has to be a mental thing. He was fabulous in July. In fourteen appearances that month prior to the trade, he gave up a total of three hits and no runs, earned or otherwise. Then Mota was traded, and Dreifort took over as setup man. In his eight appearances since, he's given up eleven hits and nine earned runs. He's also 0-3 in those games, blowing three leads. Remember that up until Dreifort took over for Mota, the Dodgers hadn't blown a lead after seven innings all year. This leaves Jim Tracy in a tough spot. Does he try to ride it out until Dreifort gets his head together, or does he go with Yhency Brazoban, who has pitched well since coming up from the minors (1.50 ERA), but only has six major league games under his belt.

Meanwhile, the Marlins came into town last night, and the crowd got to cheer all three exiled ex-Dodgers. Lo Duca (who's been on fire since the trade) had a hit and scored, as did Encarnacion, and Mota did what a setup man is supposed to, and held the lead Dreifort gave them. It doesn't get any easier, either. Two more with the Marlins, and then the Braves come in to town.