Cubs Not Alone in Losing Star Player to Injury

As Cub fans bemoaned the loss of Alfonso Soriano and collectively wondered if the race for October might be over, one doesn't have to look very far to see that other teams still in the race have also suffered the loss of a key player. In pitching alone, the Padres Chris Young, the Mets Pedro Martinez, the Cards Chris Carpenter and the Brewers Ben Sheets have all gone down and left their teams markedly weaker. However, the Brewers and Mets are still in first place and the Padres are only two games out. The Braves put SS Edgar Renteria on the 15-day DL with an ankle sprain and they are still in the race as well. The Cubs brought up Eric Patterson from Triple-A to fill in. Whether GM Jim Hendry will sit tight with that arrangement or look elsewhere for help probably depends on how Soriano looks in the next several days.