Carlos Silva already has been more successful than he or the Cubs could
have imagined. But the veteran finds himself like many of the young
pitchers on the staff, trying to use the final three weeks as a
springboard to 2011. Silva missed more than a month after experiencing an irregular heartbeat
in his Aug. 1 start at Colorado. His first start since then was a mixed bag.

A victory would’ve put Cubs manager Mike Quade in the unlikely company
of Rogers Hornsby, a Hall of Fame player who won nine of his first 12
games managing the Cubs at the end of 1930 and start of 1931. As it is, Quade is 8-4 after an ugly 18-5 loss Sunday to the New York
Mets. That was the only victory in the weekend series for the visitors
as the Cubs won their third series in the last four since Quade took Lou
Piniella’s place.

Ryne Sandberg was named the Pacific Coast League’s manager of the year
Friday, which can only put more pressure on the Cubs and general manager
Jim Hendry in the search for a new manager. In only one season at Iowa, the Hall of Famer topped 15 others for the
honor with the Iowa Cubs still in a tight race for the playoffs.

Rookie left-hander James Russell (1-1) became the fifth Cubs pitcher to pick up his first major-league victory this season.

The Cubs weren’t sure by the end of the day whether Tom Gorzelanny had a fracture in his pitching hand, but they knew they narrowly missed something much worse when the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jose Tabata lined a pitch straight back at the mound in the third inning Wednesday.

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts says it’s up to general manager Jim Hendry to identify the right guy to replace Lou Piniella as manager. But no matter how good Hendry’s new manager is, if the Cubs plan to contend next season, that’s probably going to be up to the Ricketts ownership.