Cubs finish road trip 5-1, lead Central by 5

Results: The Cubs split the last two games with the Marlins, losing 2-1 on Saturday and winning 9-2 on Sunday. They lead the Brewers by 5 games and St. Louis by 7.5 in the NL Central. The Cubs have the best record in the National League at 76-48.

What happened: Saturday -- Lou Piniella stacked the deck with left-handed hitters against righty Anibal Sanchez, but if failed to pay off as the Cubs were shut down offensively. The Cubs left all kinds of runners on base, and closer Kevin Gregg got Mike Fontenot looking to end the game. Two of the three strikes on Fontenot appeared to be outside, and hadn't been called strikes all game. The Cubs' only run came on a homer by Henry Blanco. They wasted a pretty solid spot start from Sean Marshall, who struck out eight in five innings. Sunday -- The offense erupted for eight runs in the seventh inning to give Ryan Dempster his 14th win of the season. The Cubs appeared destined to a second straight frustrating offensive day, as they were shut out through six innings by Chris Volstad, despite getting runners on base frequently. But they came through with three bases-loaded doubles in the seventh -- from Reed Johnson, Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez. Dempster allowed two or fewer runs for the 16th time in 28 starts. He struck out 10 free-swinging Marlins.

Spotted: Seated ringside for World Wrestling Entertainment's "Monday Night Raw" program were Dempster, Fontenot and Bob Howry. With the event in town, they took advantage of the night off. WWE champion CM Punk, who is apparently a big Cubs fan, wore ring attire with a modified Cubs "C" logo on it.

Up next: Reds-Cubs tonight at 7 from Wrigley Field. Johnny Cueto for the Reds and Rich Harden for the Cubs.