Cubs shortstop Ronny Cedeno has been re-called from Triple A Iowa and will be in uniform for tonights game in St. Louis.  Cedeno, who hit .097 in 14 games after starting the season with the Cubs, was leading the Pacific Coast League with a .360 average and has 10 home runs with 32 RBIs in 65 games at Iowa.

I would expect to see Ryan Theriot play most of the time, but Cedeno can play as his backup or even move Theriot to 2nd base and play Cedeno at short to get another right handed bat in the lineup when needed.

Hopefully Cedeno’s time at Triple A and getting his swing back will help him out in the Big Leagues.  If he doesn’t hit, you can’t put him in there when you have Theriot and Mike Fontentot who have been pretty good.

Cubs Blog

This weekend wasn’t the way the Cubs wanted to close out their homestand as they dropped the final two games of the three game series to the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Poor hitting this weekend was the main cause for losses but I will take the 7-3 homestand.  We should all be happy with that as Derrek Lee missed the last 5 games and will be back on Tuesday night as they Cubs and Cardinals begin a series in St. Louis.

Sean Marshall was the tough luck loser today as he threw six innings allowing one earned run while he took the loss.  In Marshall’s 12 career losses, he has only got 12 runs in support.  Talk about tough pitching luck.

Lets hope that the Cubs offense will heat up on Tuesday night against the Cardinals and we can keep in pace with the Brewers and the wild card.  Carlos Zambrano will start Tuesday night against Kip Wells.  Go get em Big Z! 

The Chicago Cubs got off to another great start during a series as the defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 today at beautiful Wrigley Field!  This is what it takes to make a push towards the playoffs! Series wins, getting off to a good start, and let the momentum keep on building!

Jason Marquis pitched a hell of a game today as he went 7.2 innings while only allow four hits and two earned runs.  The earned runs came on a Chris Young two-run homerun in the 5th inning.  Great performance by Marquis toda.  He really helped save some of the bullpen on the day Ryan Dempster returned.

Carlos Marmol finished up the 8th inning and was nasty like always.  He is really starting to become one of the best short relievers in the major leagues!  Bob Howry finished up the game in the 9th inning even though it wasn’t a save opportunity.

Aramis Ramirez once again led the Cubs at the plate as he went 2-4 with a three run homerun in the 8th inning pushing the Cubs 1 run lead to 4.  Talk about a dagger in the heard for the D-backs!  That a boy Aramis!

Jacque Jones once again had a great game at the plate as he had a couple of hits and two RBI.  He is really starting to swing the bat well and he has to continue playing in centerfield until he cools off.  If he keeps playing well, the Cubs just might keep him the rest of the season instead of trying to trade him away.

The Cubs and Diamondbacks will play again tomorrow afternoon at 12:05 central time.  Get out to Wrigley Field and watch the Cubs as they are on fire!  If you don’t have tickets, then buy some from our partners at StubHub!

Another minor leaguer brought up today as Scott Moore was recalled from Triple A Iowa to fill in for Daryle Ward who has been placed on the disabled list because of his calf injury he sustained yesterday.  Sounds like Moore is going to be starting first base today for the team as they open a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Lets hope for error free ball from Moore, and possibly a few hits!

Ryan Dempster is also back with the team after throwing in a couple of minor league games for the Iowa Cubs.  Sean Gallagher was sent back to Triple A where he will once again be in their rotation of starting pitchers.  So do you throw Dempster right back in there in the closers role? I don’t until Bob Howry blows one to be honest.  What do you think?  Dempster or Howry for closer?

The wind was blowing in today but that didn’t matter as the Cubs and Giants combined for 17 runs in todays game.  The Cubs went on to win 9-8 but Barry Bonds sure made it close!  Bonds hit two homeruns in the game to inch closer to Hank Aaron on the alltime list.

Aramis Ramirez led the Cubs at the plate going 3-5 with 3 RBI’s and two runs scored.  Ramirez came up very big for the Cubbies today.  No way they would have won if he wasn’t in the lineup.

Jacque Jones had another good day at the plate as he went 3-4 with an RBI.  Jones has really played well the last few games.  Lou needs to keep running him out there in centerfield as he has really been playing well.

Others chipping in with RBI’s on the game were Alfonso Soriano, Cliff Floyd, Angel Pagan, and Mike Fontenot.  Gotta love that many players getting RBI’s in the game.

Ted Lilly started the game for the Cubs and lasted five innings giving up six hits and three earned runs.  He did give up Barry Bond’s first homerun of the game as well in the second inning.  Lilly did work out of some jams that helped him out but he wasn’t that sharp today.

The Cubs really used their bullpen once again as five relievers got into the game.  Billy Petrick pitched one inning allowing one hit, two walks, and two earned runs.  Michael Wuertz then came into the game and didn’t have much luck as he also allowed two earned runs.  Will Ohman served up Barry Bond’s second homerun of the game in the seventh inning that brough the score to 9-8.  Carlos Marmol did have a good outing over 1.1 innings allowing 0 runs on 0 hits.  Bob Howry picked up his eigth save of the year as he closed out the game in the ninth inning.

The Cubs took 3-4 from the Giants so that is always good when you win a series.  It wasn’t all good for the Cubs as Cliff Floyd and Daryle Ward both left the game with injuries.  As of right now we aren’t sure how server they are, but from early reports it sounds like they both could be day-to-day. 

The Cubs will start a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks tomorrow afternoon.   Lets hope this winning keeps on happening!

Cesar Izturis has been traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later.  Jim Hendry has been trying to trade Izturis for quite a while now, and finally got a taker in the Pirates who Hendry has traded with in the past quite a bit.

Could this mean a return of Ronny Cedeno from Triple A?  I say not right now since Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot are doing pretty good.  If Fontenot doesn’t get out of his slump soon, I could see a move happening then but not right now.

The Chicago Cubs called up Jake Fox last night from Double A Tennessee where he has been playing first base and the outfield.  A lot of people are asking why Jake Fox? Well it seems like he could split some time in right field and also play some first base while Lee is out.  He does have some power as he has hit 18 homeruns in the minor leagues this year, but does strikeout quite a bit as well.

Other things people are talking about this morning is whos spot on the 40 man roster does Fox take?  Well Bruce Levine reported a bit ago that Cesar Izturis is very close to be traded so that would free up a spot.  We will see what happens as the day goes on.  Should know something in the next few hours for sure.

A great offensive showing for the Chicago Cubs today even without Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee in the lineup!  Aramis is taking a day off to just get a day off, and Lee has began his 5 game suspension for the Chris Young incident.

Koyie Hill had a career day for the Cubs as he went 2-3 with 5 RBI’s!  That is more offensive numbers today then the catching position has produced in the last few months it seems!  Cliff Floyd also had a good game going 2-3 with a RBI as well.  We can hate on Jacque Jones all we want but he did produce today as well going 1-2 with two RBI and two walks.  Angel Pagan, Mark DeRosa, and Mike Fontenot each had one RBI in the game also.

Carlos Zambrano threw only five innings as the Cubs were already up  9-0 after five innings so Lou took him out of the game early to rest his arm a little bit.  Zambrano did stikeout three and walked two while giving up only two hits.  Zambrano is the first National League pitcher to win 12 games this season.

Sean Gallagher threw four innings in relief as he closed out the ballgame.  Gallagher did allow a run in the ninth inning other then that it was a great showing for himself.  A great showing by Zambrano and the bullpen today.  Sure was a lot better showing by the bullpen today compared to last night!

The Cubs and Giants will play another day game tomorrow as the Cubs try to go for the 3-1 series win.  Lets get the win Cubbies!

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Derrek Lee dropped his appeal of the 5 game suspension he received after charging the mound and Chris Young of the Padres after being hit my a pitch near his head.  Lee said that it was a good time to take the suspension as he fouled a ball of his foot last night and will he hobbling around for a few days anyways.

Lee will miss the remaining two games with the Giants, and then the weekend series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Lets hope for some Daryle Ward homers as Lee sits out the next five games!

It wasn’t the night that the Chicago Cubs bullpen was hoping for as they walked in a run, and then allowed another run in the eigth inning in a infield single to give the Giants the the lead for good.  The Cubs were not able to come back in the bottom of the eigth or the ninth and the Giants tied the series at 1-1.

Sean Marshall pitched a good game as he went six innings allowing five hits, two earned runs, two walks, and two strikeouts.  It’s too bad that the offense couldn’t score more runs and get him the win tonight.

Carlos Marmol, Will Ohman, and Michael Wuertz all faltered in the eigth inning.  Marmol pitched 1.1 innings and allowed two earned runs while picking up the lose.  After Ohman replaced Marmol, he got Barry Bonds to fly out to Alfonso Soriano in left, and then preceded too walk the next to batters.   Wuertz then came in and allowed an infield single to Omar Vizquel that gave the Giants a 4-2 lead.

On the offensive side of the ball, or lack there of,  the Cubs got on the scoreboard in the first inning when Ryan Theriot doubled down the leftfield line and then scored on a sacrafice bunt by Mike Fontenot.  Fontenot reached base as Rich Aurilia was not able to control the throw from Benji Molina and Theriot came around give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.  Derrek Lee hit his eigth homerun of the year in the sixth inning that tied the game at 2-2.

Lets hope that the Cubs offense can turn it around tomorrow as they take on the Giants again at 1:20.