Rounds 2-4: More of the same, only worse. Cubs humble Brewers

Result: The Cubs completed an impressive 4-game sweep with an 11-4 win on Thursday. Their lead swelled to five games over both Milwaukee and St. Louis. The Cubs have the best record in the NL at 65-44, and trail only the LA Angels of Anaheim for the best record in MLB.

What happened: Jim Edmonds homered twice, including a grand slam in the fourth. Rich Harden was sharp yet again, and finally was fortunate enough to earn his first win as a Cub. Harden went 7 strong innings, allowing just one run while striking out 8. He has now pitched 24.1 innings and allowed 3 earned runs while striking out 38. Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome added homers. With reality setting in for the Brewers, Eric Gagne threw behind Edmonds in the 9th. Both he and manager Ned Yost were ejected. The horses were out of the barn by that time.

Big picture: There are still two months left in the season, so let's not rush to crown the Cubs NL Central champs just yet. That said, the importance of this series shouldn't be underestimated. The Cubs came into the series reeling, and almost entered the four-game set in second place, but for a rally Sunday against Florida (and a little help from Houston). Now, after beating aces C.C. Sabathia (I know he didn't take the loss) and Ben Sheets, and hammering Brewers pitching over the last three games, the lead has swelled to five. There's a lot of work left, but the Cubs took a HUGE step forward in Milwaukee. The bats came back to life, against high-level pitching. The offense was appropriately patient and aggressive, at different times. Lastly, the Cubs may have finally turned the corner on the road.

Up next: Pirates vs. Cubs, 1:20 Friday at Wrigley. Without Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, the hapless Bucs are even moreso. Jeff Karstens, who came over from the Yankees in the Nady-Marte deal, starts against Jason Marquis. The Brewers head to Atlanta for a weekend set while St. Louis hosts Philadelphia.