Scoreboard tells the story

Truth be told, there wasn't much drama between the lines Sunday in the Cubs' home finale at Wrigley Field.

The surging Cubs easily handled the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0, with Carlos Zambrano reaching a career high in victories with 17 before chronic forearm cramps forced him out after 6 innings.

The real fun and the real drama for the 41,364 in attendance came in the form of scoreboard watching.

Even in this age of instant access to scores on cell phones, Cubs fans still got a huge kick Sunday out of watching a big numeral 4 going up in the bottom of the seventh for the Atlanta Braves, who erased a 4-1 deficit against the Milwaukee Brewers.

That happened at 3:15 p.m. At 3:29, another roar went up as the scoreboard operator turned over a 2.

The Braves held on for a 7-4 victory, reducing the Cubs' magic number for clinching the National League Central to 4.

After each bit of news out of Atlanta, Cubs fans began doing the "tomahawk chop" as a salute to the Braves.

Pennant races do make for strange bedfellows, as the Cubs faced the Braves the last two times they made the playoffs.

"We saw it a little bit yesterday," said Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee. "Our crowd doesn't have much rhythm, though, because they couldn't get it in sync."

The Cubs certainly have things in sync in a big way. The victory was their 10th in 12 games, and it moved them to 10 games over .500 (83-73) for the first time this year.

Milwaukee's loss dropped the Brewers (79-76) 3½ games behind the Cubs in the Central. The Cubs have six games left, the reeling Brewers have seven.

If things go well this week, the Cubs could clinch in Florida against the Marlins, the team that so rudely ushered them out of the NL championship series in 2003.

Lee, a member of that Marlins team, cautioned against the speculation getting out of hand.

"We're playing good," Lee said. "But we still can't get ahead of ourselves. We've still got six big games to go. We just continue to play like we're playing, things will work out.

"It's not over. We have a little bit of a cushion, but we can't relax. Just keep playing good baseball and try to continue to win series like we have. We control our own destiny."

Zambrano set the tone quickly, striking out the side in the first inning and doing it in seemingly record time, as he was getting the ball and firing.

"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't," Zambrano said. "You have to know yourself. I've been here for six years, and I know when I have to rush myself and when I have to slow down. Sometimes I have to do a little bit of both."

On offense, the Cubs methodically took apart Pirates lefty Tom Gorzelanny, with Ronny Cedeno hitting an RBI single in the second to open the scoring.

An RBI double by Lee and a sacrifice fly by Geovany Soto in the fifth made it 3-0. Lee hit a 2-run homer (No. 20) in the sixth, and Cedeno added a 2-run shot in the seventh.

The only concern then was Zambrano, who left while trying to warm up at the start of the seventh.

"I think I was able to keep pitching," he said. "But that was enough, and 6 innings was good. We didn't want anything major to happen. That's why I decided to go out of the game."

The Cubs increased their home run total for September to 38, an astonishing number after a combined 32 in July and August.

They also have put together the "hot streak" manager Lou Piniella promised was coming.

"We've been playing good baseball for a long time after a slow start," said Piniella, who finally looks comfortable with this club in every way. "You check our record from the first of June on, it's been very representative. It's been good. I felt all along that in September we'd get hot, and we have.

"But let me tell you this: We've still got some work to do. This is a tough little trip to South Florida and then to Cincinnati, two teams that are playing well and scoring runs.

"We've got to take care of business. I am excited. I'll be more excited if and when we clinch. We're in a good position, but again, there's baseball to be played."

Cubs 8, Pirates 0

At the plate: Derrek Lee hit his 20th homer of the season, marking the seventh time he has hit at least 20. Ronny Cedeno, subbing for Ryan Theriot, hit his third. Cedeno and Matt Murton each went 3-for-4, with Murton hitting a pair of doubles.

On the mound: Carlos Zambrano set a career high with his 17th victory. He earned a quality start, throwing 6 innings of 3-hit ball. Only a forearm cramp stopped Zambrano. Kerry Wood provided encouragement by pitching 2 scoreless innings. He struck out three before Michael Wuertz finished.

-- Bruce Miles