Oh what a way to end the night for Henry Blanco and the Chicago Cubs.  After missing a suicide squeeze sign in the 5th that had Matt Murton was called out at home on, Blanco redemmed himself and hit the cluth game winning single in the bottom of the 9th inning.

“I got a little confused and missed the sign,” Blanco said. “But I guarantee you it won’t happen again.”

Freddie Bynum hit the tying homerun in the bottom of the 9th, which was followed by a Juan Pierre bunt single.  Ryan Theriot then sacrificed Pierre into scoring position with 1 out.  Jacque Jones was then walked which followed with a Matt Murton single to load the bases. Blanco then game to the plate and had the winning hit scoring Juan Pierre.

It was another strong outing from Rich Hill who went seven innings allowing two runs on six hits.

Get your Teams Playoff Tickets Here!

Cubs Blog

When we reported that Glendon Rusch had a blood clot in his lung, many of us wondered what this lead to with Rusch’s future.  Now, Mr. Rusch is saying he will be on blood thinners for atleast 6 to 12 months and will for sure miss part of the 2007 season.  He did say it is a possibility that he retires from the game.

Rusch will see hematologists in Los Angeles when he returns home next week for the off-season. The danger in continuing to play would be if he develops another clot, which would mean that he must remain on blood thinners the rest of his life.

Ronny Cedeno who has had an up and down year with the Cubs will be playing winterball in Venezula.  Cedeno is planning on getting work in at 2nd base and shortstop the two positions he has played for the Cubs this year. 

Sounds like Ronny wants to work hard and improve over the offseason which you can’t say for all players.  Hopefully Ronny comes back strong for spring training and takes over one of the middle infielder positions while batting 2nd in the lineup.  We need his speed on the basepaths and that means he needs to be more patient and cut down on his strikeouts and take some walks.  Wow, that sounds pretty similar to what we were all saying about Corey Patterson lol.

Cubs Blog

Get right out of bed, or take your lunch hour and watch some of the Cubs vs Reds game today.  Gametime is 10:35 from Cincinatti.  The Cubs will be trying to come back and grab a win from the Reds after Ryan Dempster blew another save yesterday.  The Cubs were leading by one run going into the bottom of the 9th, but Dempster could not hold of the pesky Reds who are still hoping to win the Division.  Dempster has not had a save in over a month, not all his fault because he hasn’t gotten very many chances, but you gotta close those chances you do get Dempster!

For todays game it is Wade Miller vs Bronson Arroyo.  Miller is 7-2 lifetime with a 4.05 ERA in 14 appearances against Cincinnati.  This season Arroyo is a superb 4-0 against the Cubs with a 1.26 ERA.  Going to be a tuff day for the Cubs I’m thinking, hope they can close out this last week on a highnote but I’m just not sure if it will happen.

Chicago Cubs Blog

The Chicago Cubs today announced a two-year player development contract with the Tennessee Smokies (AA) of the Southern League. The contract was announced this afternoon at Smokies Park in Sevierville, Tennessee.

“The Chicago Cubs are honored to be part of a first class organization like the one here in the East Tennessee Community,” said Oneri Fleita, Director of Player Development and Latin American Operations. “We look forward to a long affiliation with the Tennessee Smokies”.

The contract ended the Cubs’ partnership with the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, the club had been a Cubs affiliate since 1998. The Smokies have been affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the last two years.

Cubs Minor Leagues

ESPN.Com is reporting that there is pretty much 0% change that Joe Girardi returns the coach the Florida Marlins next year.  Girardi and the front office of the Marlins do not see eye to eye and even though Girardi did very good with all the young Marlin players this year, they want him gone after this season.  The Marlins will be paying Girardi 1.5 million to buy out his contract.

What better fit if you ask me, welcome home Joe Girardi to his home state, and where he also played during his career.  I think Joe would be a very good fit for this team, you already know he can handle the pressure of playing younger players and teaching them the game and that is the way the Cubs need to move in my opinion.

I don’t see Dusty Baker coming back next year at all, the team just doesn’t respond to his coaching and they need to go in a new direcftion.  I hope Jim Hendry lets Cubs fans know Baker will not be back right after the last game of the season.  Hendry, you should be on the phone right after the Marlins last game and start negotiating with Girardi.  That’s just what I think

Chicago Cubs Blog

Aramis Ramirez continues his hot streak to end the season as he belts two homeruns in leading the Cubs past the Phillies last night 11-6.  Ramirez was 4-for-5, including a pair of three-run home runs in the first and fourth innings. Ramirez, who had his fourth multi-homer game of the season and the 17th of his career, also finished with a career-best seven RBIs. Ramirez became the sixth Cub to have at least 35 doubles and 35 home runs in the same season. Ramirez now has 35 homers after hitting a three-run shot off Phillies starter Jon Lieber in the first and another three-run dinger in the fourth off reliever Eude Brito.

Michael Wuertz picked up the win after throwing shutout innings in middle relief for Sean Marshall.

Not very many Cubs games left this season, get your tickets here, or watch some other teams in the playoffs!  We have every teams playoff tickets available RIGHT HERE!

Cubs Blog

Where did this offense come from lol!  The Cubs jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the first innings.  Jacque Jones, Ronny Cedeno, and Carlos Zambrano all hit home runs in the first inning.  Matt Murton also hit one and little Ryan Theriot hitting one in the 4th inning and another in the sixth inning. 

Zambrano, hoping to get consideration for the National League Cy Young Award, struck out six and held the Reds to four hits and four walks over seven innings.

The Cubs won the game 11-3 and now have won two straight series!  Isn’t it great! LOL!

Chicago Cubs Blog

Buy and Sell Cubs Tickets Here!

Derrek Lee is done this season for the Cubs.  He had a family emergency where his daugther has lost some of her vision in one of her eyes.  He knows what is important, and that is his family so he is going to be with his wife and daughter through all the medical tests and hopefully figure out what is wrong with his daughters eye.  We at Chicago Cubs Blog wish the Lee family all the best and please say a prayer for them.

Cubs pitcher Glendon Rusch was hospitalized on Tuesday night with a blood clot in his right lung, and is done pitching for the season.  Rusch has been placed on blood thiners for the next three to six months.  No one really is concerned with his career at this point, it is more a life threatning injury right now.  Good luck Glendon, we are all hoping for the best big guy.

Chicago Cubs