Knock the Cubs down. Sammy Sosa and Jon Lieber will just pick them up again.

That's been proven repeatedly since May, with the just-completed weekend series against St. Louis the latest example. When things look the darkest for Don Baylor's team, as they did after the weary Julian Tavarez got battered around Wrigley Field by the Cardinals on Friday, the Cubs turn to two of the National League's most consistent performers. Sosa and Lieber are always up to the task.

With Chicago fans in their fatalistic, 1969-all-over-again mode, Lieber evened the series with a win on Saturday. Then Sosa opened Sunday's game with a first-inning homer. He followed it up with a second shot off Dustin Hermanson in the fifth inning. The Cubs were on their way to a 6-1 victory that evoked the words of Texas songwriter Robert Earl Keen.

"Reached into my pocket, found three twenties and a ten," sings Keen. "It feels so good to be feeling good again."

The only question is who is the three twenties and who is the ten -- Sosa or Lieber?

At the moment, the National League Central is a three-team race. Five games separate first-place Houston from third-place St. Louis. But the Cardinals' inability to sink the Cubs makes you wonder if a team that has had such inconsistent performance from so many regulars -- Mark McGwire, Jim Edmonds, Edgar Renteria and the departed Ray Lankford -- can find a finishing kick.

If they have one in them, the Cardinals had better put it on display between September 14 and 26, when they play the Astros six times. Tony La Russa's team doesn't play the Cubs again.

With a schedule that has them playing 18 of their 32 remaining games away from Busch Stadium, the onus is on the Cardinals to hang close to Houston and Chicago. More than likely, the Central is going to be decided over the last two weeks of the season.

The Cubs and Astros play seven times in the final 10 days of the season, first at Enron Field and then Wrigley. In between those series, Houston hosts St. Louis in another critical series.

While Houston has a three-game division lead, the Astros will have to rely on an inexperienced pitching staff to protect it. Jeff Bagwell and the fellows are holding their breaths over Pedro Astacio, who was scratched from a start on Sunday with a stiff shoulder. He status will be evaluated after he gets an MRI on Monday.

Emergency starter Ron Villone beat Pittsburgh in Astacio's absence, but Larry Dierker admits the loss of Astacio could be a body blow to a team that is already without Shane Reynolds. Rookie Roy Oswalt has been Houston's ace but you wonder how he'll hold up in September.

The Cubs could get a lift if Kerry Wood returns next weekend, which is the plan. Rookie Juan Cruz, who threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings against St. Louis on Sunday, also might be just what the Cubs need. He has pitched well in two starts since making the jump from Double-A, allowing only two runs and seven hits in 11 2/3 innings.

Sosa, who has driven in at least 21 runs every month, has turned into an absolute monster. He's hitting .451 with 16 homers and 34 RBI in August. Lieber, meanwhile, just keeps rolling along. The 17-game winner has worked five-plus innings in all 27 starts this season and 60 of 62 the last two years. While the rest of the rotation has dropped off in August, Lieber is 3-0 with a 3.26 ERA.

Spotlight on: Shawn Green, RF, Dodgers
Talk about an everyday player. Green has played in all 292 games since being traded to the Dodgers.

Green experienced a disappointing first season (.269, 99 RBI) in Los Angeles after signing an $84 million contract. But he has bounced back in a major way.

	Shawn Green Right Field Los Angeles Dodgers Profile
	2001 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI R SB AVG 131 42 109 98 16 .296

No Dodger has done more than Green to keep the team in the playoff hunt despite their injury-ravaged starting rotation. He's quickly approaching career highs with 42 homers and 109 RBI in 130 games.

Green is hitting .313 with 22 homers and 45 RBI his last 43 games. He's coming off a trip to Florida and Atlanta on which he was 12-for-27 with five homers.

New face: Jason Jennings, RHP, Colorado
The box score says Jennings did everything right but Thursday wasn't a perfect day. Sure, the 23-year-old from Baylor University threw a shutout and hit a home run in his major-league debut -- an unprecedented feat -- but he couldn't solve the New York Times crossword.

He tackled it during the 62-minute rain delay before the game at Shea Stadium. "I think I got five clues," Jennings said.

He certainly had a clue on the mound. He held the Mets to five hits, continuing a run of good pitching that had seen him compile a 1.00 ERA in his last six starts at Triple-A Colorado Springs. Jennings threw 124 pitches but was able to finish the job because he needed only 38 in the last four innings. Buddy Bell didn't have the heart to hook him.

"You root so hard for a guy when he first comes up to do well," manager Bell said. But you never expect a night like this ... That was incredible, awesome."

Jennings is glad Bell let him stick around to finish the job. Otherwise he would have ended the night a mere 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. His homer off reliever Donne Wall came leading off the ninth. It showed why he served as a cleanup-hitting DH on the days he didn't pitch at Baylor.

After he finished off the Mets in the ninth, Jennings was practically speechless. "It's going to be hard to top that one," said Jennings, a first-round draft pick in 1999.

He gets his first choice on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. Maybe he'll have better luck with the Los Angeles Times crossword.

Series to watch
Giants at Diamondbacks, Tuesday through Thursday
Arizona could deal San Francisco a major blow with a sweep. The Giants haven't led the NL West since May 15 but climbed back within one-half game as recently as Aug. 16. They trailed the first-place Diamondbacks by 3 1/2 games entering Monday.

The Giants miss Curt Schilling, who started on Sunday, but will catch Randy Johnson in Tuesday's opener. He'll be facing Livan Hernandez. The Diamondbacks lead the series 7-5, with Johnson going 1-1 with a no-decision in three starts.

Neither team comes in hot. While Arizona was 3-3 on a trip to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, San Francisco went 2-4 in Montreal and New York and had a day game Monday at Shea.

The Giants placed Shawn Estes on the disabled list after a start last Tuesday but have their pitching fairly well set for the series. Kirk Rueter and Jason Schmidt will follow Hernandez. Brian Anderson and Miguel Batista are scheduled to start on Wednesday and Thursday for the Diamondbacks.

Arizona pitchers like to challenge Barry Bonds. He's made them pay with seven homers in 12 games.

Team to watch: Devil Rays
Funny how that Fred McGriff trade is working out. The Devil Rays may have benefited more than the Cubs.

Since McGriff decided $1 million was enough of a sweetener to leave the comforts of Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay has gone 14-15. That might not sound like much for most teams but it's the equivalent of a 10-game winning streak for the Rays, who were 33-69 with McGriff -- a pace that would have produced a 52-110 record over the full season.

With 10 rookies currently on the roster, Hal McRae's team has given itself a chance to avoid 100 losses. To do that, it needs to go 16-15 down the stretch. That could go out the window in a hurry, however, as the Devil Rays play their next 12 games against Seattle and Oakland.

They should enjoy relative prosperity while it is here. "We're playing baseball the way it is supposed to be played," Greg Vaughn said. "Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but the other team knows that anything can happen at any time. It's fun."

While it lasts.

Phil Rogers is the national baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, which has a web site at www.chicagosports.com.