Coming into play today, the Chicago Cubs lead the National League in runs scored, and it's not even close. They are outscoring the Philadelphia Phillies, who are second in the league, by 0.4 runs per game. The Phillies, of course, have Pat Burrell and Chase Utley, both of whom are in the top 10 in the NL in OPS. The Cubs do not have anyone in the top 10. Or the top 20. The first time you get to a Cubs' player on the NL OPS leaderboard is at #22, where Aramis Ramirez resides. And yet the Cubs' offense has been so good that it is even outscoring all of the DH-containing American League offenses save the Texas Rangers. The balance in the Cubs' offense and the strength of its bench is amazing. Which is helpful given that the $12M rookie -- Kosuke Fukudome -- may soon see more time on the bench, writes Yahoo! Sports Gordon Edes. Kosuke has a 720 OPS since April and a 602 OPS since June.

Despite a 12-14 record, the Cubs have outscored their opponents by 29 runs this season, second in the National League only to the New York Mets, who are way out in front of everyone at 48. The Central Division leading Brewers are 18-9, but have only outscored opponents by 17 runs. The Brewers are 7-3 in close games; the Cubs 2-9 (but improving!).