The regular season is over for the Chicago Cubs after the dropped a 8-4 contest against the Cinncinatti Reds on Sunday.  I wouldn’t put much into the final game of the season as the Cubs were just playing in a tune up for Wenesdays opening night game in the playoffs.

Alfonso Soriano led off the game with a lead off homer as he set a Major League record with his 7th lead off homerun in the month of September.  Soriano led the game off for the Cubs this year hitting 12 homeruns.  Soriano also singled in the 2nd inning that scored two more runs.

Two players that got into the game that I am very worried about however is Jason Marquis and Ryan Dempster.  Marquis pitched 2/3rds of an inning and allowed four hits and four earned runs.  Dempster wasn’t much better as he pitched one inning allowing four hits and four runs.  Terrible performance once again by Dempster.

I don’t want to see Marquis or Dempster with the ball in the playoffs to be honest.  Let Bob Howry be the closer of this team.

Before the game Lou Piniella said that Carlos Zambrano would pitch game one against the Diamondbacks, and Ted Lilly would get the ball in game two.  I would expect to see Rich Hill get the nod for game three which will be in Chicago on Saturday night.

GO CUBS GO! - Chicago Cubs Blog

Finally we can say that the Chicago Cubs are the National League Central Division Champions!  With a 6-0 win over the Reds tonight and the Brewers losing to the Padres, the Cubs are divisional champions!

Alfonso Soriano started the game off with a homerun and it sparked the team from the get go.  Derrek Lee connected for a two run shot in the 5th inning as well.  Jacque Jones had 2 RBI double in the 8th inning for some insurance runs.

Carlos Zambrano threw a gem during his seven innings.  Zero earned runs, only one walk, and six hits.� Big time performance when the team really needed it!

Now we will wait and see who the Cubbies will play on Wednesday!

Wow, not many of us were expecting to get sweeped by the Florida Marlins the past three game but that is exactly what happened.  After winning 10 of 12 games, the Cubbies have now dropped three in a row and to a team they did not beat all season long in the Florida Marlins.

Once again the Cubs starting pitching sucked from the first pitch.  This time it was Steve Trachsel who sucked it up.  Trachsel threw 4.1 innings while giving up five earned runs.  You cannot pitch like that when you need a big win.  Trachsel is a verteran and should thrown alot better then he did.  He has done absolutely nothing since coming to the Cubs.  Nice trade Mr. Hendry!

While the starting pitching sucked again, the offense was right behind them.  They could not get the clutch hit when they really needed it.  You don’t go up there hacking at the first pitch you seen when you need a big hit with runners on base.  Jacque Jones and Ryan Theriot had terrible at bats late in the ballgame at crucial times.

Tomorrow is a new day, the Cubs will be in Cincinnatti to take on the Reds and hopefully get back onto the winning ways.  Lets all sit down, watch the Padres and Brewers and hope for a Padres win!

Wow, all the Cubs fans have to be asking why they are Cubs fans lol.  I sure know I am.  Is this going to be another classic choke job by the Cubbies?

Once again the Cubs were not able to beat the Florida Marlins and get another game closer to the division title as they lost Wednesday night 7-4.

Jason Marquis got hammered early and often.  Marc DeRosa and Ryan Theriot were unable to turn a key double play that allowed the Marlins to take momentum in the game and score later in the inning.  The Cubs kept battling back, but it was always a big Marlin hit that gave them the lead once again.  The final blow for the Cubs was when Carlos Marmol gave up a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera in the 7th inning.

So lets all watch the end of the Cardinals / Brewers and pray to god that the Cardinals hold on to defeat the Brew Crew.

Tough night tonight for the Chicago Cubs as they fell to the Florida Marlins by the score of 4-2.  The Marlins scored all four of their runs in the second inning off of Ted Lilly.  Lilly definately did not have the game that he was hoping for.  He was behind in the counts early, and gave up bloop singles and then a couple of hard hit balls in the 2nd inning that ultimately lost the game for the Cubs.

The Cubs did try getting a rally going in the 8th when Craig Monroe hit a two-run homer but that was all the offense they really had.  Aramis Ramirez was ejeced in the 9th inning after he flew out.  The umpire was calling the outside pitch a strike all night long, and Ramirez was pissed for having a ball called a strike before he flew out.  Marc DeRosa struck out on the same pitch to start off the inning as well.

As I’m writing this, the Brewers are currently ahead of the Cardinals 4-1 so if that stands that Cubs will only be up 2 games in the division with 5 games remaining.  We hate the Cardinals but we need them to help us out tonight.

Carlos Zambrano pitched six great innings before leaving the game with some cramps as the Cubs won 10 of their last 12 games.  With Sundays win, the Cubs are now ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers 3.5 games and the magic number is 4!

Zambrano won his 17th game of the year as he only allowed three hits during his six inning outing.  Zambrano has now won his last three of four starts and is pitching like the “ace”.

Kerry Wood pitched two scoreless innings and Michael Wuertz struck out the side in the 9th inning.  Great performances by both relivers!

Derrek Lee and Ronny Cedeno both hit homeruns for the offense.  Lee connected in the 6th inning and Cedeno in the 7th inning.  Both players also had three RBI’s in the game.  Mark DeRosa and Geovany Soto both had a RBI as well.

The Cubbies will have a off day tomorrow as they travel to Florida to start a series with the Marlins.  With the magic number at 4, I would love to get this taken care of while we are in Florida!

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The wind was blowing out of Wrigley Field Friday afternoon and Aramis Ramirez and the Chicago Cubs took advantage of it during a 13-8 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ramirez delivered with two 3-run homeruns which both of them gave the Cubs a three run lead at the time.  Ramirez finished the day going 2-5 with the two homeruns and six rbi’s.  Alfonso Soriano led off the game with yet another homerun from the lead off spot and Geovany Soto then connected in the sixth inning as well with a shot to left field.

It was a good thing the Cubs were able to hit all of those homeruns today since Jason Marquis stunk it up and only lasted 2.2 innings while giving up eight hits and seven earned runs.  Definately not the performance we wanted to see out of Marquis today as he is slated to pitch the game at the end of the season if the Brewers and Cubs are still tied.

The Cubs bullpen held on when they needed to and the Cubs went on for the victory and that is what really matters.  We need to win the final two games of this series with the Pirates and hope the Brewers struggle down in Atlanta!

GO CUBS GO!

The Chicago Cubs broke though with a run in the 8th inning and then made sure to hold onto the 3-2 lead against the Cincinnatti Reds Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.  The made sure the Cubs would atleast be in a tie for first with the Brewers and could be up a game in the divison if the Astros can beat the Brewers who are currently in extra innings.

It was a crazy 8th inning of the game as Ryan Theriot started off with a single to right field that Ken Griffey Jr. bobbled which allowed Theriot to move to second.  Derrek Lee then hit a sharp single to right field and while Griffey was attempting to make a hard throw into homeplate he looked to have some sort of abdominal strain.  Theriot wasn’t sure what was going on, and with only one out in the ballgame, he stayed at third base.  With Theriot on at third, and Lee on at first, Matt Murton hit a sinking line drive to left field that Adam Dunn appeared to catch but the umpire ruled that he trapped it as Theriot scored from third.  Replays did show that Dunn did indeed make the catch and the Cubs finally got a break that would usually go against them.

Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto hit two solo homeruns in the game as well.  Soriano hit the first pitch in the bottom of the 1st inning and then Soto connected in the 5th inning.

Ted Lilly through an awesome game on the mound tonight to lead the pitchers.  Lilly threw seven strong innings while allowing five hits and two earned runs which were both solo homeruns.  Lilly came up big tonight and got out of all the jams that he was in.

Bob Howry came in and finished out the last two innings of the game.  It was a somewhat suprising movie by Lou Piniella when he kept Howry in the ballgame to pitch the 9th inning after sitting on the bench during the long bottom of the 8th, but Piniellas move worked and the Cubs went on to win.

The Cubs have an off day tomorrow before starting a weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field.  I feel the Cubs need to sweep the Pirates to stay with the Brewers in the division.  Lets hope after the weekend the Cubbies are ahead in the division by a few games!  GO CUBS GO!

Carlos Zambrano was working on three days rest and things did not go planned for him or the Chicago Cubs tonight as they lost to the Cincinnatti Reds 5-2 at Wrigley Field.

Zambrano only lasted 5.1 innings while giving up seven hits and four earned runs.  Since Zambrano signed his new five year deal on August 17th, he is 2-4 and definately not pitching the way he is capable of.  I don’t like the fact he was going on three days rest, he really doesn’t seem like the type of pitcher that can pitch on sort rest the way he goes out each time when he pitches.

Jacque Jones was the only Cubs player to get an RBI tonight.  Jones singled in the 4th inning that scored Aramis Ramirez and Matt Murton.

It was bad news as well tonight as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Houston Astros and moved into a tie with the Cubs for the lead in the central division.  This race is going to come down to the last 1-2 ballgames of the year I’m afraid.  The Cubs need to beat the teams they are capable of beating and then move on into the playoffs.  GO CUBS GO…

Tickets for the first two Divisional playoff games at Wrigley Field will go on sale Sunday morning at 9 am central time.  Get up early, log into cubs.com, and hope to god you get selected out of the virtual waiting room!  We all know how bad that virtual waiting room is when you are trying to buy tickets!

Tickets are $85 for infield club box seats, $70 for club box outfield and field box infield, $65 for field box outfield, $55 for terrace box infield, $50 for terrace box outfield, $55 for upper box infield and $50 for upper box outfield.

Tickets also are $40 for terrace reserved infield, $35 for terrace reserved outfield, $50 for bleacher reserved, $25 for upper deck reserved, $265 for dugout box, $165 for bullpen box, $70 for bleacher box and $15 for standing room only.