Are the Cubs better than the Dodgers?

The Cubs were apparently energized by Jed Hoyer's buying spree at this year's trade deadline. They've played seven games since and have won six of them. The only loss came in one of the new guys' first start. Clay Holmes hadn't pitched since May 8 thanks his injury, and he struggled in his Cubs debut, allowing four runs in four innings. It's the first time all season that he's allowed more than two runs in any start that didn't end with him hobbling off the field with a broken leg.

They faced a challenging stretch of 17 games without day off that ended yesterday in a 10-2 win over the Royals. They have tonight off before starting a three-game series in DC against the James Wood-less Nationals. The Cubs went 12-5 during that stretch, winning five of the six series they played (including a makeup win on Thursday against the Blue Jays, belatedly taking two of three in a set that started way back on June 19).

Not lost in the hullabaloo, should be the three game home sweep of the mighty Dodgers. The Cubs should have won them all handily. After pounding the Dodgers 10-5 in the first game, they ruined the mighty Tarik Skubal's NL debut 5-1 in the second game, and then were cruising to a 7-1 win in the third game when they let Caleb Thielbar make a mess of things, but eventually escaped 7-6.

The Cubs won the season series from LA four games to two. They have scored more runs (614) this year than the Dodgers (591). They allow less than a half run less than the Dodgers do per game. They play better defense. (It helps that they have a real shortstop.)

So, dare we dream that the Cubs are better than the Dodgers?