San Diego Padres vs Chicago Cubs Live Streaming

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8:05 pm EDT Mon Aug 16, 2010

The San Diego Padres took two of three from their closest pursuers in the NL West to kick off a 10-game road trip. They know they can’t afford to get complacent as they begin what should be an easier leg of the trip. Fresh off one of their biggest series of the season, the first-place Padres head to Wrigley Field on Monday night for the first of four against the disappointing Chicago Cubs. San Diego has won six of seven, and its latest series was perhaps the most significant sign that baseball’s biggest surprise team doesn’t intend on fading. The Padres split a pair of one-run contests at wild-card leading San Francisco, then dropped their division rivals 3 1/2 games back Sunday with an emphatic 8-2 victory over two-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum. San Diego has won nine of 11 against the Giants.

Chicago had dropped 14 of 16 after losing its opener at division-leading St. Louis on Friday, but came back strong over the weekend. Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez homered in a 3-2 win Saturday, and Lee went deep twice Sunday in a 9-7 victory. Lee was removed with lower back stiffness as the Cubs led 8-1 in the fourth inning, though manager Lou Piniella said he would have kept him in had the game been closer at that point. Chicago’s bullpen surrendered five runs in the ninth to provide a scare Sunday, and that’s where this series could be won or lost. The Padres’ 2.68 bullpen ERA is on pace to be the majors’ best since the 2003 Dodgers’ 2.46 ERA, while the 4.74 ERA of the Cubs’ relief corps is the fourth-worst in baseball.