Cubs recover to take 8th straight series; have best record in MLB

Results: The Cubs defeated Washington 9-2 on Saturday and 6-1 on Sunday. They claimed their eighth consecutive series win and now lead the NL Central by 4.5 games over Milwaukee with an MLB-best record of 80-50. Milwaukee swept Pittsburgh to pick up one game over the weekend.

What happened: Saturday -- Aramis Ramirez smacked a pair of three-run homers to help Ryan Dempster win his 15th game of the season. Ramirez' s first bomb came in the fourth, and was more than enough for Dempster. He added some insurance with a three-run blast in the eighth. Dempster pitched into the eighth inning, allowing just one earned run. Sunday -- Rich Harden showed once again he is every bit the ace acquisition that C.C. Sabathia is, allowing just two hits while striking out 11 in seven innings. The only real mistake by Harden came on Austin Kearns's solo home run in the third. Mark DeRosa and Geovany Soto homered early to stake Harden to a lead, and Kosuke Fukudome added a pinch two-run homer in the eighth to put the game on ice.

Concerns: Derrek Lee left Saturday's game early and sat out Sunday with back spasms, a reoccurring injury the past couple of seasons. ... Despite winning two of three in the series, the Cubs lost ground to Milwaukee, which has abused the weaker teams in the NL, such as the Nats. Unfortunately, the Brewers' schedule the rest of the way is much more favorable than the Cubs'. The Brewers and Cards are off tonight before starting a two-game series on Tuesday in St. Louis.

Up next: Cubs-Pirates tonight at 6:05 from the best ballpark in MLB. Ted Lilly starts for the Cubs against Jeff Karstens, who shut down the Cubs earlier this month at Wrigley Field.