Despite being dominated for most of the game by Arizona rookie starter Max Scherzer, the Cubs rallied off the Diamondback’s bullpen for 6 in the 7th en route to a 7-2 victory and their first series win in weeks. Alfonso Soriano went 4 for 5 with 2 runs and the game winning RBI. The Cubs got the lead in the 3rd when Soriano scored on an error by rightfielder Justin Upton. After the Cubs failed to score with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 5th, the D’Backs got 2 runs in the top of the 6th on a bases loaded walk and an RBI groundout against Ryan Dempster.

Daryle Ward tied the game with a pinch hit RBI single in the bottom of the 7th, followed by an Alfonso Soriano RBI double to put the Cubs ahead. The Cubs would get four more in the inning on RBI singles from Ryan Theriot and Aramis Ramirez, capped off with a 2 run homer by Kosuke Fukudome. Scott Eyre, who made his first appearance since coming off the DL, got the win in relief. Carlos Zambrano tries to lead the Cubs to a sweep on Mother’s Day against Randy Johnson at 1:20 CT.

Mike

Ted Lilly and the Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks as the teams played each other for the first time since the Diamondbacks swept the Cubs last postseason.  Lilly pitched great as he tossed seven innings and only allowed three hits and one run while striking out ten batters.

Most Cubs fans probably thought oh crap here we go again as Chris Young took Lilly deep for a home run in the first inning but after that Lilly setteled down and controlled the Diamondbacks hitters.

Kerry Wood picked up his sixth save as he closed the door on the Dbacks in the ninth inning.

At the plate for the Cubs, they got a run in the fifth inning on a Lilly single that scored Mark DeRosa and then Alfonso Soriano doubled to score Reed Johnson.  In the seventh inning, Derrek Lee connected for his ninth home run of the season to put the Cubs up 3-1.

Now that was a big win that the Cubs were really needing to get as they start a ten game homestand.  On Saturday, the Cubs will send Ryan Dempster to the mound against the Diamondbacks rookie stud Max Scherzer.  Hopefully we will see the Cubs pick up another win over the Diamondbacks!

Wow, the Cubs were never even in the game hardly today against the Cincinnti Reds as the Reds came out of the gates with some big whoopin sticks.  The Reds hit four home runs off Jon Lieber in the second inning, and then two more home runs off of Sean Marshall in the fifth inning, and one more off of Sean Gallager in the sixth inning.

The pitchers didn’t even give the hitters a chance today as they put them into such a big hole to start off.  Yeah, the offense sucked as well in the game as they only recorded six total hits and didn’t even score one run.  Leaving twenty runners on base and striking out eleven time sure didn’t help the offense.

The Cubs will now off Thursday off which is a much needed off day if you ask me.  Let the bullepen get some more rest as they are probably going to have to be used quite a bit this weekend when the Arizona Dimaondbacks come into town for a weekend series.  The Cubs have a long homestand coming up, they really need to win 75% of these games to stay within striking distance of the St. Louis Cardinals who just keep on winning and winning.  Right now the Cubs are thre games behind the Cardinals in the standings.

So how will the Cubs do against the Diamondbacks?  I’m predicting that they will win one game out of the three game series.  Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

Carlos Zambrano pitched great on Tuesday night as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cincinnati Reds 3-0.  Zamrbano improved to 5-1 on the season as he tossed eight innings and only allowed three hits in the game.  Zambrano was in trouble a couple of times but was calm and quickly worked his way out of the jams.  It was nice to see that the Reds were up there first pitch hitting quite a bit, it allowed Big Z to last longer in the game as his pitch count was getting up there.

On the 10th anniversary of Kerry Wood striking out 20 batters, he earned his fifth save of the season.  Talk about a career turn around from starter to closer for Wood.

Ronny Cedeno had a two run single in the fourth inning for the Cubs and Aramis Ramirez had a RBI single in the first inning.  It was great to see Ramirez back in the lineup after sitting out with a swollen wrist the last few games.

Kosuke Fukudome continues to struggle on the road however.  Fukudome went 0-3 on Tuesday night.  I wonder if this slump will continue for Fukudome as he is still trying to learn pitchers in the league. What do you think Cubs fans?

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That was about one of the most frustrating games I have watched in a long time.   The Cubs lost to the Reds 5-3 as the Reds broke their five game losing streak and the Cubs continue to play bad baseball.  Two errors really hurt the Cubs as the Reds scored four unearned runs in the game.  Mark DeRosa and Mike Fontenot both extended innings where the Reds scored after they commited big errors.

The Cubs had their chance to atleast tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, but with the bases loaded for some reason Fontenot tried scoring from third base on a ball that got away from Paul Bako and was called out at home.  Yeah, replays showed that Fontenot was safe, but he shouldn’t have even tried scoring on that play because his run really didn’t matter.  Ryan Theriot walked right after that to load the bases for Derrek Lee but he failed to get a base hit as he grounded out to first to end the game.

Geovany Soto, Derosa, and Theriot all had a RBI each.  Soto connected on a solo home run in the second inning as he continues to swing a good bat.  Soto finished the game 3-3 with a walk.

Ryan Dempster took the loss for the Cubs.  Dempster is now 4-1 on the season after losing the game tonight.  Dempster allowed five runs to score but only one of those runs were earned.  The two errors extended innings and Dempster wasn’t able to pick up his teammates.

Carlos Zambrano will take the mound tomorrow night for the Cubs as they will try to get back on track against the Reds.  The Reds will send Aaron Harang to the mount so the Cubs will have their work cut out for them once again.

The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals played in front of a national tv audience on ESPN on Sunday night and the Cubs played pretty bad in a 5-3 loss to the Cardinals.  Albert Pujols broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning with a two run double and the Cubs didn’t have an anwser after that.

Jason Marquis struggled as he only lasted 5.1 innings as he gave up all five runs.  Marquis isn’t throwing the ball that well and his record shows that as it is now 1-2 on the season.  On Sunday night he walked five batters so he is having some control problems.

Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Reed Johnson all had an RBI in the game for the Cubs.  The Cubs really struggled as they only had five hits off the Cardinals pitching staff.

It really sucks losing two out of three against the Cardinals.  The Cubs are now 1.5 games behind the Cardinals in the division standings.  The Cubs will begin a three game series with the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.  Hopefully they can pick up that 1.5 games this next series and be right back on top of the Cardinals.

Ted Lilly threw seven innings and recorded his 1000th strikeout on Saturday as the Chicago Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 9-3.  Lilly had his pitches working for him finally as he recorded his second win of the season and is now 2-4 on the season.  Lilly also had his second career extra base hit with a double.

The Cubs only scored in two innings but they used a six spot in the fourth inning and then three more runs in the seventh inning to blow the game open.  Mike Fontenot had a three run home run while Geovany Soto had a two run double in the fourth inning.  Kosuke Fukudome had a pair of doubles among his three hits and drove in two runs as well.

The Cubs will try to win the series as the two teams play on ESPN Sunday night.  It will be Jason Marquis vs former Cubs pitcher Todd Wellemeyer.

Also before the game Rich Hill was sent down to Triple-A Iowa and Sean Gallagher was called up.   Early reports are staying that Jon Leiber will take Hill’s spot in the rotation, and that Gallagher will be pitching out of the bullpen.  Hill will stay in the minors until he regains his control and can last more then a couple innings in a game.

Alfonso Soriano tied the game with a two run home run in the ninth inning, but the Chicago Cubs still lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 in 11 innings.  It was an up and down game for the Cubs at the plate, on the mound, and out in the outfield.

Starting pitcher Rich Hill was pulled after only recording two outs in the first inning.  Hill walked four of the six batters that he faced after having his last start skipped.  Manager Lou Piniella didn’t want anything to do with Hill and quickly called on his bullpen.  Everyone in the bullpen except for Carlos Marmol threw for the Cubs.

Journey man Chad Fox made his first apperance after coming back from arm troubles to take the loss for the Cubs.  Fox was pitching in his second inning of action when he gave up a game winning two run home run to Skip Schumaker.

The Cubs struggled at the plate as they only had one run heading into the ninth inning when Soriano went deep to tie the game.  Soriano also had a RBI groundout in the third inning as he had all three RBI for the Cubs.  Soriano did have his trouble out in the field as he miss-played two balls once again that really cost the Cubs.  Had he caught those balls, the Cubs probably win this game in my opinion.  It’s a love / hate relationship with Soriano right now with many Cubs fans.

Dont expect to see Aramis Ramirez in the lineup on Saturday as he left Friday nights game after being hit in the wrist.  Ramirez says that it is pretty swollen and having a day game sure doesn’t help.  I’d expect Ramirez to set this one out for the Cubs.

If you want to see what some of the Cubs minor league players look like, then you will want to get out to Wrigley Field on July 29th when the Peoria Cheifs play the Kane County Cougars.  It is believed to be the first ever minor league game to be played at historic Wrigley Field.

Tickets are on sale now at Cubs.com if you would like to go.  Ryne Sandberg will be coaching the Peoria Cheifs so make sure you get out there early and possibly get an autograph by the former Cubs second basemen.

Let us know if you plan on going!  It would be great for your entire family to spend a day at Wrigley Field!

Kerry Wood entered the ninth inning with a 3-1 lead and once he finally recorded three outs, the Cubs were losing 4-3 .  Wood hit the first batter, then gave up a double that put runners on third and second.  After a infield single that scored a run for the Brewers, Wood walked a batter, struckout a batter, and then gave up a two rbi double.  Terrible outing for Wood.

I won’t put everything on Wood though.  Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome both missplaced balls in the ninth inning.  If they get back and make those catches the Cubs would have won.

I hate blogging about games like this, I’m so frustrated that I don’t even know what to really write.  I hate blowing leads like that.  Carlos Zambrano would have picked up his fifth win had the Cubs been able to hold on.  I hate wasting a nice performance like that.

Now the Cubs have to head to St. Louis to take the Cardinals on in a weekend series.  The Cardinals have been playing some great baseball and actually moved into first place in the division.  How many games do you think the Cubs will win in St. Louis?  I’m going to say one the way they are playing right now….