OK, DeShields has two. And admittedly, Bobby Hill was very shaky coming into this game, suffering an 0-for-9 slump. He even committed an error in the third inning.

But today he broke out, going 3-for-5 with four RBI and only a double short of the cycle. I think that if he shows the kind of patience at the plate that he showed in the minors, it’s only a matter of time before he’s leading off and Patterson’s back in the two hole. Meanwhile, McGriff homered and went 3-for-4 with four RBI. He now has a six-game hitting streak. The Cubs have now won three in a row (their largest win streak at home this season), and have scored 18 runs in the last two games. This could be the beginning of a good run for the Cubs.

Unfortunately, they’re pretty much out of the race. They’re 10 games back in the Central Division, and frankly aren’t strong enough to contend with whomever doesn’t win the West for the wild card spot.

Not ony did Pedro Martinez pitch the Red Sox to victory over the Yankees in the first of a crucial four-game series, he took on the curse of the Bambino as well. As reported by the Associated Press:

“Babe Ruth was one of the greatest men for the community. I don’t think he would want to curse not even his worst enemy.

“I don’t believe in curses,” he said then. “Wake up the damn Bambino, maybe I’ll drill him.”

Well, one way to end curses is to pitch the way Pedro did. He went seven innings, gave up only four hits, one run, two walks and struck out 10. And Urbina got the job done again in relief. The Red Sox blew so many painful games in relief last year, between Derek Lowe, Rod Beck and everybody else they tried. I look forward to watching the Sunday night game on ESPN.

Bob Dylan isn’t quite getting the same attention as he did when he turned 60 last year, but at least his hometown of Hibbing, Minn., is celebrating the bard’s birthday for a solid week during “Dylan Days.” Outstanding.

I really should take the trip up there for “Dylan Days” one year. Another interesting fact I learned from this story. People from Hibbing are known as “Hibbingites.”

Remember I wrote about the miracle of “Chuck & Buck’s” being produced by the same people who brought us “American Pie”? Well, I guess the Weitz brothers (who star in and produced “Chuck & Buck”) are not such losers, after all.

They are behind Hugh Grant’s latest vehicle, “About a Boy,” which apparently has some heart and is better than the average Hugh Grant movie. It should be, as its based on the Nick Hornby novel. Ebert gave it three and a half stars.

And here’s an interesting interview with the Weitz brothers from The Onion. For example, Chris Weitz says:

In a sense, we’re taking the studio route, so we’ve made a deal with what could be the devil. But I think we’ve managed to do pretty much what we’ve wanted to do within the system. Of course, there’s huge financial pressure. Studios are basically banks, and they want their money back, so that’s where all the pressure is coming from. They think they know how to make money: according to formulas. Given that, I think we’ve managed to make things relatively non-formulaic, but part of that is keeping our budgets really low.

We actually had a lower budget this time than the last time we made a movie. I saw [director Kinka Usher] at the première of Mystery Men, and he came in front and gave a speech, in which he said, “Thanks to the studio for giving me the extra 20 million bucks to really make the movie I wanted to.” And I thought, “Man, you poor sap. You’ve gotten yourself 20 million bucks deeper in the shit.”

Many other inside Hollywood insights to be found in the interview. Check it out. Still not going to see “About a Boy,” though.