Two bad starts in a row for Big Carlos Zambrano now.  Tonight Zambrano lasted seven innings even though he gave up 11 hits, two walks, and six earned runs in the game.  Carlos was getting the ball over the plate a little to much and he was hit hard by the Cincinnatti Reds offense.

Speaking of offenses, it was nice to see Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez go back-to-back in the 4th inning.  Jacque Jones also connected for a solo homerun in the 6th inning.  It was a rocket shot that reached Sheffield Avenue.  The Cubs did a nice rally going in the bottom of the 8th inning but Daryle Ward popped up to shallow center field with runners on second and first base.  In the 9th inning, Matt Murton did hit one to the warning track in left, but was a few feet from the ivy covered wall, and then Mike Fontenot came up with a runner on first, and flied out to deep right field and his ball was caught at the wall as well.

It was a good thing that the Cardinals beat the Brewers tonight.   The Cubs are still back 1.5 games behind the Brew Crew but we still think we can catch them.  The Cubs just need to get on another roll and win four out five games.  We can put the Cardinals out of this race this weekend, with a big series at Wrigley Field.  Lets get business done!

The Chicago Cubs today selected left-handed pitcher Carmen Pignatiello and recalled infielder/outfielder Jake Fox from Triple-A Iowa. In corresponding moves, right-handed pitcher Sean Gallagher and infielder Eric Patterson were optioned to Iowa. To make room for Pignatiello on the 40-man roster, catcher Henry Blanco has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

I think we can pretty much assume with “Hank White��? going to the 60-day DL his year is finished.  With Fox coming up, the Cubs are hoping to add a little bit more pop to the lineup.  How many chances will he get though?  That is what I want to know.

Cubs Blog

The Chicago Cubs dropped their second game in a row to the Colorado Rockies today by the score of 3-6.  With the loss to the Rockies, the Cubs finished their six game road trip with a dissapointing 2-5 record.  The good news, they only lost .5 game in the standing aginst the Milwaukee Brewers who have also been struggling this week.

Kerry Wood picked up the loss for the Cubs as he gave up three runs in the 6th inning.  The big shot came off the bat of Troy Tulowitski when he hit a bases loaded double off Wood.  It was just a few feet short of making it over the right field fence for the Rockies second grand slam in as many days.  It was Wood’s worst performance since joining the team.  Hopefully he doesn’t pitch so poorly again.

You can really tell that the Cubs are missing Aramis Ramirez and his bat.  They really don’t have anyone that can come up and hit a two or three run homer, or hit a couple doubles a game and drive in three runs.  Ramirez should be back on Tuesday as the Cubs begin a short series with the Reds.

So what do you all think? Are the Cubs going to catch the Brewers and take control of the central division or do you see it coming down to the last three games of the year?  I have a feeling it is going to go right down the wire unless the Cubs can go on a 6-7 game winning streak and have the Brewers drop 3-4 games at the same time.

Cubs Blog

Cliff Floyd was placed on the bereavement list for the second time this season.  Floyd’s dad is very sick and it doesn’t sound like he will make it much longer so Floyd went back to Chicago to spend time with his family.  We wish the Floyd family all the best, and please keep them in your prayers.

Daryle Ward is back with the team in his pitch hitters role as he has recovered from his calf injury.  It will be good to have him back as a pitch hitter so we don’t have to run Carlos Zambrano up there like Lou did Thursday night in Denver lol.

Cubs Injuries

The Chicago Cubs scored first, but it wasn’t nearly enough last night as the Colorado Rockies rocked the Cubs 12-2 at Coors Field.  Jamey Carroll hit a grand slam in the sixth to break a tie and Rockies’ rookie Troy Tulowitzki had a four-hit, three-run night as the Rockies snapped a six-game losing streak to the Cubs.

Rich Hill took the loss for the Cubs and his record now stands at 6-7.  He didn’t get into much trouble until the 6th inning when Carrol belted the grand slam.  Hill threw 5 2/3 innings allowing seven earned runs on nine hits.  He did have four strikeouts and walked one.  Rich just didn’t get third out in the 6th inning that he really needed to get.

Once Hill left the game, the flood gates opened even more as Sean Gallagher and Scott Eyre both let more runs score.  Gallagher gave up four earned runs and Eyre two.

I don’t even want to talk about the Cubs offense.  Terrible showing last night after having two great games at Coors Field.  Hopefully they will come back strong and close out the series with a win today against a Triple A pitcher that the Rockies just called up.

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News sources are saying that the Chicago Cubs have claimed White Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik off waivers.  The White Sox had two business days to work out a trade with the Cubs, simply let him go to the North Side team or pull him off waivers.

Podsednik isn’t having that great of a year, but he does have playoff experience as he was with the White Sox when they won their World Series.  Is he a better option the Felix Pie or Matt Murton?  I really think the only thing he improves is a little chemistry in the clubhouse with his playoff experience.  I wouldn’t sign him at this point however.

Time will tell what happens with Scott Podsednik and the Chicago Cubs.  Stay tuned!

The Chicago Cubs stay hot in Denver as they beat the Colorado Rockies 6-2 last night at Coors Field.  It was a hell of a game all around for the Cubbies as they got good starting pitching by Jason Marquis, and the bullpen gave a little bend but did not break in the late innings.  The Cubs offense lead behind Jacque Jones helped out the team by jumping ahead of the Rockies and holding on to win the second game of the four game series.

Marquis finished the game lasting 6 2/3 innings while giving up only one earned run.  He did hit Jeff Baker in the head in the seventh inning and was why Lou pulled him.  He thought that Jason was rattled after Baker was hit and didn’t want any other damage to happen.  I was sitting 8 rows behind homeplate/cubs dugout and the crack of that helmet was pretty damn loud. I was suprised Baker was moving around as much as he was to be honest.

Jacque Jones sure likes Coors Field this year.  Batting the in the #2 spot for the second straight game against the Rockies, Jones went 3-5 with and driving in two RBI’s.  Matt Murton also hit one out in the thin air of Colorado in the ninth inning.  I didn’t think his ball had a shot to get over, but it carried into the second row in right field.  Jason Kendall also stayed hot for the Cubs as he finished 3-4 and driving in two runs.  I love getting production from the bottom of the order like that!

The Cubs and Rockies will play again tonight at Coors Field.  It will be Rich Hill facing off against Josh Fogg.  Lets win another one Cubbies!

After scoring only 5 runs in the entire series in Houston, the Cubs put up a 10 spot to beat Colorado 10-2 at Coors Field Thursday night. Jacque Jones had a big night with 4 hits and 4 RBIs. He drove in Ryan Theriot for the 1st run of the game in the opening inning. The Cubs got 3 in the 2nd thanks to a Garrett Atkins error scoring Jason Kendall. Jones followed up with another hit to make it 4-0. Matt Murton led off the 3rd with his 3rd homer of the season. The Cubs would add 4 more that inning. Mike Fontenot and Kendall had RBIs as well. Ted Lilly picked up his 13th win of the season going 6 innings giving up only 2 runs. The bullpen finished off the game as Kerry Wood, Carlos Marmol, and Bob Howry pitched scoreless frames. With 3 games still to be played in Denver, the Cubs send Jason Marquis to the mound against Aaron Cook Friday night.

The Cubs played like crap again tonight as they dropped all three games to the Houstin Astros.  Tonight, Carlos Zambrano got rocked and also bust another bat as he struck out with the bases loaded.  Zambrano was going for his Major League lead 15th win of the season but was unsuccessful once again.  He gave up seven runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out six.

Once again the didn’t have any offense to keep the team in the game.  They did manage to push across a run in the 7th and 8th innings but it wasn’t enough to get close to the Astros.  The final score ended up being 3-8.  The Cubs completely got taken to the woodshed this series.

Hopefully the series against the Rockies that starts tomorrow will help this team out.  I’ll be in there in person, so lets go CUBBIES!

Felix Pie was called up to the Chicago Cubs for the third time this season after the Cubs placed outfielder Angel Pagan on the disable list.  I have to wonder if this is just a move to get Pie on the roster to spark up some excitment.  Is Pagan really hurt?  Either way Pie is better then Pagan.

Look for Pie to get most of the starts in centerfield, Matt Murton and Eric Patterson playing left field, and Jacque Jones / Cliff Floyd in right field until Alfonso Soriano comes back.