Craig Monroe has been traded to the Chicago Cubs this morning as Jim Hendry tries to find someone that can hit some left handed pitching.  Monroe was released by the Tigers a few days ago as he struggled most of this year after putting up good numbers for them the past few years.

We can only expect Monroe to see action when a left hander is throwing against the Cubs.  There is no way you let him bat against right handers as he absolutely blows against righties. 

The Cubs will be sending a player to be named later to the Tigers.  Damn, that guy gets traded a lot lol.

It was another late inning rally by the Chicago Cubs tonight against the SanFrancisco Giants.  It was a 2-2 game from the 4th inning until the top of the 10th inning when the Cubs were finally able to push across the game winning runs to beat the Giants 4-2.  They wouldn’t have had a chance though if it wasn’t for the great pitching perfomance by Rich Hill.

Hill pitched an outstanding game for the Cubs tonight.  He only allowed two earned runs during his seven innings.  Hill kept the Giant batters off balance all night long and really helped out the team by throwing seven innings.  Hill also had 10 strikeouts and only allowed one walk on the night.  Now that is good!

Aramis Ramirez got the Cubs offense started in the top of the 4th inning when he had a two RBI double tied the game 2-2.  The game stayed tied until the top of the 10th inning when Cliff Floyd led off with a double, and then Felix Pie (who was pitch running) advanced to third on a passed by.  Mike Fontenot then walked and Jason Kendall hit a sharp groundball to Rich Aurilia who bobbled the ball and let it get into the outfield which allowed Pie to score the go ahead and game winning run!

The Cubs were not done however as they still had Fontenot at third base and Kendall at first when Henry Blanco came to the plate with one out and succesfully laid down a suicide squeeze that score Fontenot from third base to give the Cubs a 4-2 lead.

Ryan Dempster then came into the game and closed it out with his 20th save of the season.  With the victory tonight, the Cubs moved 1 game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers who lose 2-3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks!

The Cubs are in first place, do you have tickets to watch the Cubs at Wrigley Field or on the road? If not, you are missing out and need to order some tickets through our Partners at Stubhub!  Great tickets at great prices 100% guranteed!

- Cliff

For 8 innings Tuesday night, the Cubs were dominated by Tim Lincecum. Luckily for the Cubs, they had only given up 1 run in that span. Jason Marquis went 7 strong giving up only 3 hits and 1 run. Coming into the 9th, the Cubs had only 2 hits. Ryan Theriot led off with a double and then back to back singles by Jacque Jones and Derrek Lee to tie the game brought the end of the night for Lincecum. After a walk to Ramirez, Cliff Floyd drove in 2 with a single to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead. DeRosa sac bunted and Jake Fox struck out before Jason Kendall brought in 2 more with a single of his own. Ryan Dempster pitched a scoreless 9th. Both the Cards and Brewers won as well on Tuesday so no change was made in the NL Central standings. Barry Zito faces Rich Hill at 9:15 CT Wednesday night.

-Mike

The Cubs optioned shortstop Ronny Cedeno to Triple-A Iowa and designated catcher Koyie Hill for assignment after the game against the Cardinals on Monday.  It is being rumored that Cliff Floyd and Henry Blanco will replace them on the active roster.

Floyd is back with the team after being with his family during his fathers health problems and death.  Floyd says that it is great being back with the team, and a much needed relief at this time.

Blanco joins the team after having some back and neck problems which has kept him out most of the season.  He was 2-10 during a minor league rehab which isn’t that great but we know he is on the team for his defense more then his offense.

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Albert Pujols belted his 28th home run, Rick Ankiel added a solo shot, and Scott Rolen had three hits and drove in three runs to power the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-4 victory Monday over the Cubs in a game delayed one hour and 27 minutes by rain.

Ted Lilly (13-6) took the loss, serving up five runs on seven hits and three walks over six innings. It’s the second straight outing in which the left-hander has been hit hard. He gave up six runs over five innings to Cincinnati in his previous start.

Joel Pineiro (3-1) served up back-to-back home runs to Daryle Ward and Mark DeRosa but held on for the win, which helped the Cardinals pull within three games of the Cubs in the division.  I will still take 2 out of 3 this point in the season against the Cardinals.  Lets hope that the Brewers lose tonight so the Cubs can remain one game ahead in the standings!

The Cubs continued their recent home success with their 3rd straight win, a 5-3 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday. Despite 2 rain delays, they got 9 innings in. The Cubs scored all 5 of their runs in the 3rd to take a 5-0 lead. Derrek Lee, who went 3-4 started it with an RBI single and Daryle Ward hit his first HR has a Cub, a grandslam to the left center field bleachers. Solo homers for St. Louis by Juan Encarnacion, Brendan Ryan, and Albert Pujols weren’t enough to overcome Sean Marshall who got his 6th win. Anthony Reyes got the loss and Ryan Dempster converted his 2nd straight save. The Cubs and Cards play game 3 of the 4 game set on ESPN’s Sunday Night baseball at 7:05 CT.

Carlos Zambrano and the Chicago Cubs agreed on a new contract extension as Big Z signed a 5-year 91.5 million contract to keep him in a Cub uniform and off the free agent market at the end of the season.

I like that this got done before the end of the season, I don’t know if the Cubs could have signed Zambrano if he had choosen free agency.  They can’t get into another bidding war after shelling out all that money to Alfonso Soriano.

Good job Hendry and company!

Ah, what a hot day at Wrigley Field yesterday as I sat out in the left-center bleachers.  It was a pitchers game yesterday as Rich Hill and Braden Looper both pitched well.  Hill and the Cubs were saved on a nice over the shoulder grab by Jacque Jones in the 5th inning that saved a couple of runs from scoring.

Jones also had the game winning homerun in the 6th inning right after Albert Pujuols gave the Cardinals a lead with his homerun in the top of the inning.  What was awsome out both of these homeruns, was we were right in the middle of it all in the bleachers.  If you watch the videos of the homeruns, I’m the guy in the blue shirt that is moving over towards the ball on the Jones homer.  I had it in my hands and dropped it!  (Yeah, I know I should have brought my glove!)  Nothing like watching the guy that got the Jones ball to jump in into the basket and then get kicked out of the game lol.  He was pretty scared after his girlfriend/wife got the Pujols ball and the Cubs fans really let them have it for not throwing it back.

I will be back at the game this afternoon and I’m hoping for some more Cubs fun!

The Chicago Cubs got back on the winning track today as the beat up on the Reds in a 12-4 blowout.  The Cubs had 20 hits behind Mark DeRosa’s 5-5 day.  It was really nice to see the offense come through and hit a lot of singles and doubles.  Jacque Jones and Aramis Ramirez both contributed with four hits apiece and two RBI’s as well.

Jason Marquis allowed seven hits and four runs which all of came in the second.  Scott Eyre, Carmen Pignatiello, and Ryan Dempster finished out the ballgame without allowing a run.  Good job pitchers!

The Cubs are only two games above .500 but moved within a half game of first-place Milwaukee when the Brewers lost again to St. Louis, 8-0. The Cardinals now come to Wrigley Field for an important four-game series. St. Louis is just 2 1/2 games behind Milwaukee after sweeping three from the staggering Brewers at Miller Park.

The next four games against the Cardinals are going to be huge in the Central Division.  We will either be able to push the Cardinals away and in first place, or be in third place in the divison after this series.  Lets hope the Cubbies take atleast 3 out of 4 against the red hot Cardinals.

Another poor game by the Chicago Cubs have they have now lost 4 games in a row after dropping the game last night to the Cincinnatti Reds 9-11.  It was two runs by the Reds in the top of the 8th inning that pushed them over the top.  The Cubs were unable to come back in their final six outs continued their losing streak.

It was a two run homer by Josh Hamilton off by Bob Howry that gave the Reds the lead for good.  It was and up and down for the Cubs.  The offense was there today, but the pitching just sucked.

Ted Lilly threw the first six innings of the game and stuggled as he allowed six earned runs on six hits with two of them being homeruns.  It’s good that Lilly lasted six innings, but cut down on those homeruns!

After Lilly, it really didn’t get much better.  Michael Wuertz and Howry both allowed two earned runs.  Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood were the only relievers that didn’t not allow a run to score while they pitched.

Aramis Ramirez hit a solo homer, his second in as many games, Jason Kendall hit a two-run shot, his first homer for the Cubs, and Jacque Jones and Ryan Theriot each drove in two runs in the loss.  But it wasn’t enough since the Cubs pitching staff sucked…

The Cubs better get playing better baseball or they are going to find themeselves in third place in the Central Division as the St. Louis Cardinals are red hot and only 3.5 games back of the division leading Brewers.  The Cubs and Cardinals begin a four game series this Friday in Chicago.  They better win, as we have came half way across the country to watch the games on Friday and Saturday!