Cubs 4, Padres 0

Coverage of the Padres' finale at Chicago on Thursday is at padres.com.

Now it's on to interleague play against the Padres' "natural rival." Hope the longstanding animosity between the Padres and Seattle Mariners doesn't boil over at Safeco Field this weekend.

It's amazing these fierce rivals can share the Peoria Sports Complex without hiring extra security to keep them apart.

OK, Friar John has resorted to sarcasm. Very un-Friar-like.

Guess FJ should just present some facts instead.

Here goes: The Padres are 80-96 overall in interleague play. They are 28-28 all-time vs. Seattle. Tony Clark, who will see most of the available time at designated hitter, has played 92 games as a DH. In 325 at-bats, he has batted .255 with a .343 on-base percentage and .475 slugging average. He is just barely less productive at DH than he is as a first baseman. Clark has 15 homers as a DH.

FJ