Just think back to last Sunday at about 2 p.m. Central time.  The Cubs had blown a 5 game lead over the Brewers in a week.  The division race was all tied up.  The Cubs trailed the Marlins 5-0.  The Brewers led the Astros 4-1.  For all intents and purposes it looked like the Cubs were going to head up to Milwaukee on Monday trailing the Brewers.  Things looked bleak.

But the Cubs got two in the bottom of the third to make it 5-2.  Then, Alfonso Soriano hit a three run homer to tie it in the fourth.  Jason Marquis of course gave it right back when he let Dan Uggla hit a 700 foot homer in the top of the fifth.  But that was it for the Marlins.  The Cubs scored four times in the seventh on a Derrek Lee homer and a Mike Fontenot bases clearing double.

Meanwhile, a Rickie Weeks error in the Milwaukee led to five unearned runs, just about the same time Soriano was homering to tie the Cubs game.  The Cubs went back into sole possession of first, then headed to Milwaukee, where they unexpectedly (and quite awesomely) kicked the ever living crap out of the Brewers for four straight nights.

They outpitched them, they outhit them and they certainly out fielded them.  If there was any doubt at all who the best team in the NL Central (and by default the entire National League) was, it’s gone now.

The Brewers led for all of one inning in the entire series.

Reed Johnson set the tone the half-inning after that lead was acquired.  On a routine double play grounder that would have ended the inning with the Brewers still leading 3-2, Johnson took out Rickie Weeks who made a miserable throw past the completely stationary Prince Fielder.  The tying and go-ahead runs scored and the Brewers would never lead again.

On Tuesday night, Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets were engaged in a great pitcher’s duel through five.  But the Cubs grew tired of it in the sixth and decided to collect seven straight hits to send Sheets to the showers and put away the game.

On Wednesday, the tone was set from the start when the Brewers defense managed to turn a strike out into the start of a two run rally for the Cubs.

And yesterday?  Yesterday was an ass-kicking of epic proportions.  Oh, it wasn’t another 19-5 game like when they pantsed the Brewers in April.  But it was 11-1 after eight and the Brewers melted down.

Eric Gagne proved he can’t hit any target, not a glove or a batter when he missed hitting Lassie with a pitch and got tossed from the game.  He and the great Ned Yost argued with home plate umpire Doug Eddings, but Eddings just looked confused.  Likely because Gagne was yelling at him in Canadian and Yost in Backwater Country Gibberish.

Things got even better in the bottom of the ninth, when Prince Fielder disagreed with a strike call and complained.  Then he popped out, but stopped to slam his bat into the ground until he broke it, then jogging halfway to first (which is farther than his lazy, fat, ass normally runs on pop-ups).  Then he yelled at Eddings some more on his way to the dugout.  Kept yelling from the dugout.  Finally got thrown out but wouldn’t leave the dugout, and then, and only then, finally left.

And suddenly, the lead is back to five games.  And when the Cardinals couldn’t beat what’s left of the Atlanta Braves last night, they fell to five games back, too.

It’s pretty clear that the Cubs, with the return of Soriano jumpstarting the offense back to their dominant first-half form, are ready to put the rest of the Central into their rearview mirror and let the Tards and Crew fight overt he wild card with the Mets and the Marlins.

It seems only fitting that pair of rinky dink towns can fight for a rinky dink way to get into the playoffs.

The Cubs are home for a nine-game homestand and they face the Pissburgh Pirates.  You know the Pirates, the team with the outfield that drives the Cubs nuts with Nate McLouth, Xavier Nady (oh, wait) and Jason Bay (never mind.)  Then the Astros come to town for three, followed by the Cardinals.

Looks like it’s time to humiliate some more divisional opponents.

Since they hit a lull in the middle of June, we’d kind of forgotten what a sight to see the Cubs are when they put it all together.  They reminded us in Milwaukee this week.

Can’t stop now.