In the other Split Squad game yesterday, Derrek Lee lead the Cubbies past the Seattle Mariners 16-4.  Lee went four for five and collected 3 RBI’s.  He is now batting .513 during Spring Training! 

It was quite the offensive output by the Cubs as they collected 24 against the Mariners.  They sent 10 men to the plate in the first and scored on Alfonso Soriano’s leadoff homer, an RBI single by Derrek Lee, a two-run homer by Aramis Ramirez and an RBI single by starter Wade Miller. Michael Barrett hit two homers — a three-run shot in the second and a leadoff long ball in the fourth.  Utility infielder Ryan Theriot just missed the cycle as he finished without the homerun.

For the pitchers, Wade Miller got the start and went 3 1/3 innings allowing three earned runs and four total runs.  I don’t like that one bit.  If Miller is out best option for the fifth starter, he needs to come out and throw beter.  Keep the ball down and get some batters out.  Allowing four runs in three innings is not going to keep the Cubbies in contention to pick up the win.

It was nice to see Neil Cotts throw two shutout innings though. Maybe he finally got the message from Lou that all he does is give up runs and he isn’t helping out the ballclub.  Lets see how his next outing goes before giving him anymore credit.

The Cubs are now 9-9-1 in Cactus League Play.  Buy and Sell your Cubs Tickets with our partners at Stubhub!  Great prices and 100% guranteed transactions!

The Cubs jumped all over the Brewers’ top pitching prospect, Yovani Gallardo, scoring five first-inning runs on five hits, including Jacque Jones’ three-run home run. It was the first homer of the spring for Jones, who finished 2-for-4 and scored twice. The Cubs’ first four hitters (Felix Pie, Mark DeRosa, Jones and Daryle Ward) combined for eight hits, nine runs scored and seven RBIs. Ward, who entered the day 3-for-27, led the way with a pair of doubles and four RBIs.  Wow, Pie is having a great spring training, it is a shame he is being blocked of a starting job in the outfield with the big league team.

On the mound for the Cubs, Sean Gallagher got the start and went three innings allowing three runs on three hits.  Sean Marshall also made his Cactus League debut pitching one inning and allowing one hit.

The Cubs will travel to Tucson on Tuesday for the last time this spring, going up against the Rockies at 3:05 p.m. CT. Left-hander Ted Lilly will make his third start and fourth Cactus League appearance. Also scheduled to pitch is closer Ryan Dempster, who was sidelined for a few days because of spasms in his shoulders.

It looks like righthander Angel Guzman will start out in the bullpen for the Cubs this season.  Lou Pinella said he likes Guzman as a pitcher but right now he probably won’t be the 5th starter and rather pitch some long relief out of the bullpen.

With Kerry Wood only throwing three innings so far in Spring Training, it looks like Guzman and Rocky Cherry will be getting some early action.  If everything goes ok for Wood, he will throw again Thursday or Friday and see how everything goes.  It will probably be a long shot for him to make the opening day roster.  Same with Mark Prior…  Wow we have been saying that for the past three years!

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Angel Guzman who is competing for the 5th spot in the rotation struggled yesterday again the Chicago White Sox.  He gave up five runs on seven hits over 3 1/3 innings. He walked one and didn’t strike out a White Sox hitter.  After the game Guzman said that he would get batters with a few strikes but just didn’t finish them off.  He is going to have to develope a strikeout pitch and start painting some corners if he wants this 5th spot in the rotation.  Time is running out for him…

At the plate for the Cubs, Casey McGehee’s three-run double in the ninth tied the game at 6. Matt Murton launched a long home run to left on the first pitch of the second inning from Javier Vazquez. It was Murton’s third long ball of the spring. Derek Lee also singled home a run.  It wasn’t enough as the White Sox won 7-6.

The Cubs Spring Training record is now 8-7-1.  The Cubbies will now play the Padres today.  Lefty Rich Hill will be taking the mound for the Cubs.  Hill has been pretty solid for the Cubs so lets hope he can throw a good 4 innings and put the team in a position to win the game!

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Ronny Cedeno tried bringing the Cubs back in the 8th innings and did give them the lead on a RBI triple but it wasn’t enough as the Cubs fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5.  Scott Hairston doubled off the center-field wall, scoring Robby Hammock from second for the game-winning RBI.

Wade Miller threw four innings for the Cubs today and allowed two runs on five hits.  The bullpen wasn’t much better as Ryan Dempster gave up one run, and Rocky Cherry gave up the winning run in the ninth.  One bring spot was Scott Eyre throwing a shutout inning.

The Cubs also will be off Wednesday and host Seattle on Thursday. Ted Lilly will start for the Cubs against the Mariners’ Cha Seung Baek.

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The Chicago Cubs announced its first round of roster cuts, reducing its spring roster from 58 players to 44 players.

Infielder Scott Moore and left-handed pitcher Clay Rapada have been optioned to Triple-A Iowa. In addition, infielder Brian Dopirak has been optioned to Double-A Tennessee and right-handed pitcher Jeff Samardzija has been optioned to Single-A Daytona.

Ten non-roster invitees have been returned to minor league camp, including right-handed pitchers Jason Anderson, Sean Gallagher, Adam Harben, Ben Howard, John Webb and Randy Wells. Infielders Mike Kinkade and Eric Patterson, as well as outfielders Tyler Colvin and Chris Walker, have also been returned to minor league camp.

Chicago’s spring roster of 44 players consists of 22 pitchers (three non-roster invitees), five catchers (two non-roster invitees), 10 infielders (three non-roster invitees) and seven outfielders.

With Mark Prior having problems locating his fastball, and no change-up or curve ball that he can throw for a strike, I have to wonder if he is still having some shoulder problems that shut him down last season.

He says everything feels ok, but his velocity is only hitting the 88-89 MPH range on his fastball, and the hitters know that is all he can throw for a strike.  They are sitting dead red on that fastball down the middle of the plate, and hitting it with power.

Prior will be making a minor league start this week.  We can hope that throwing to minor leagues and not in front of as many fans can allow him to settle down and concentrate on throwing some strikes and getting ahead of batters.  Right now I don’t see Prior on the opening day roster.  Give him a few starts in the minor leagues and see if he can get that velocity up over 90 MPH and then if he can throw his curve ball for a strike you bring him up.  It wouldn’t be worth it right now.  Maybe he will change over the next three weeks, but right now, it isn’t looking good for the Cubs and Mark Prior

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It was an offensive day at the ballpark yesterday as the Cubs clubbed their way to a 9-8 win over the Oakland Athletics. 

The Cubs hit for the cycle in the first inning when Alfonso Soriano hit his first spring homer leading off, Aramis Ramirez hit an RBI triple and scored on Jacque Jones’ single, and Jones tallied a run on Michael Barrett’s double. The Cubs have homered in six straight games. Jones was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, adding an RBI single in the second and another in the fourth. All of his hits were off left-handed pitchers.

On the mound for the Cubs, Carlos Zambrano started the game and gave up three walks in three innings along with two runs and two hits.  Not a good outing by Zambrano but he says he knows what to fix and it won’t be a problem.  Says his left shoulder was flying open, and that caused his fastball to no work that good.

The Cubs will take on Greg Maddux and the San Diego Padres today.  They will try to improve their record to 4-3-1 on the spring.

Ahh, finally a low scoring game for the Cubs!  And I mean that by only allowing the opposing team to score two runs!  That is how you win ball games with great pitching and great defense.  The runs will come around with the lineup that we will have in the regular season.

Jason Marquis in his second outing of the spring pitched three shutout innings while allowing only two hits and one walk.  Great to see Jason come out and throw some good innings and not let the club get behind early in the ballgame.  It will be cruicial for him to do this all year long.

Ryan Dempster also did pretty well pitching yesterday.  He threw one innning, gave up one hit, and recorded two strikeouts.  Another key to this years team the is the closer.  We can’t have the Ryan Dempster that we did last year and expect to make the playoffs.

Micah Hoffpauir hit a one-out homer in the ninth for the game-winner. Jacque Jones hit a two-run single with two out in the first, and Eric Patterson had two hits and a stolen base.  I’m really excited to see how well Eric Patterson does for the Cubs.  I could see him with the big league club if we happen to have some middle infielder injuries this year.

The Cubs will play host to the A’s at 2:05 p.m. on Wednesday at HoHoKam Park. Carlos Zambrano, the club’s Opening Day starter, is set to make his second spring start. Former Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzija is on the list of pitchers to see action as well.

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The Cubs have reached agreements for the 2007 season with 18 players on the 40-man roster with three or fewer years of service time. Pitchers agreeing to terms include right-handers Rocky Cherry, Angel Guzman, Carlos Marmol, Juan Mateo, Roberto Novoa and Michael Wuertz, and left-handers Rich Hill, Sean Marshall and Clay Rapada.

The Cubs also have agreed to terms with infielders Ronny Cedeno, Brian Dopirak, Scott Moore and Ryan Theriot, as well as outfielders Buck Coats, Felix Pie, Matt Murton and Angel Pagan, and catcher Geovany Soto.