Al at Bleed Cubbie Blue wonders what happened to the Cubs home run power:

After today's 6-2 loss to the Pirates, the Cubs have now gone nine games without a HR.

That's the longest such streak in nineteen years -- since July 14-21, 1988. And 1988 was a down year in general in baseball for HR, sort of a reaction to the aberrational HR blast of 1987 -- the team lead in HR in '88 was 24, by Andre Dawson. That's the lowest team-leading total since 1986, when Gary Matthews and Jody Davis led the club with 21. In '88, only two other Cubs (Ryne Sandberg, 19, and Vance Law, 11) were in double figures.

The 2007 team, allegedly, has more power than that. The team total of 74, which has been static since Aramis Ramirez' walkoff on June 29 (I keep thinking, "Did that HR suck all the HR energy out of this club?"), now ranks eleventh in the league.

Ramirez and Theriot are hitting for power, just not home runs. And it seems opponents are pitching around Lee whenever possible. On top of that, seven of their last nine games were played in parks not known for helping home run hitters. The Cubs have allowed eight homers in those nine games, so they're not exactly getting blown away.