The Chicago Cubs and Carlos Zambrano lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 5-4 on Wednesday night.  Zambrano was shaky all game long and actually came out of the game with some shoulder discomfirt in the sixth inning after he recorded two outs.  Hopefully it won’t be too bad, but you never know with a shoulder injury.

The Cubs had plenty of changes to score more runs in the game but they kept on leaving runners stranded on the bases.  Geovany Soto did hit a solo home run in the ninth inning but it wasn’t enough for the Cubs to come back.  Soto almost hit a home run earlier in the game as well but it bounced a foot below the fence and he slide into second with a double.

Ryan Theriot had two rbi’s for the Cubs and Kosukue Fukudome had one rbi.  Fukudome did strike out looking for the final out of the game though.  Theriot was on first base but Troy Percival was able to settle down and get the next three guys out.

One other thing that I have been wondering lately.  Where in the hell have Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee been the last two or three weeks?  It really seems that both players are slumping badly.

So now the Cubs have lost two games in a row to the Rays.  They have both been one run games that we have been accustomed to seeing the Cubs win but that wasn’t the case against the Rays.  The Cubs will try to avoid the sweep on Thursday night and then fly right back to Chicago for an afternoon game against the hated rivals Chicago White Sox.

The Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays played their first game against each other ever and it was the Rays taking the 1-0 series lead with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night.  The Cubs offense struggled until the late innings when they attempted a comeback but they still came up short by one run.

Reed Johnson almost tied the game in the ninth inning when he bunted with Kosuke Fukudome on third base with two outs in the inning.  Johnson laid down a very good bunt however Evan Longoria was able to bare hand the ball and make a bouncing throw to first base where Willy Aybar was able to dig it and hold on for the third out.

Earlier in the ninth inning Mark DeRosa scored on a passed ball.  DeRosa singled with one out in the ninth inning and then moved to third base on a double by pitch hitter Fukudome.  Fukudome also had a chance to score on a passed ball but he choose to stay at third base as the ball bounced to the Rays catcher pretty quickly.

Neal Cotts took the loss for the Cubs and is now 0-1 on the season.  Cotts gave up a home run to Longoria and then a rbi single to Eric Hinske in the seventh inning.  Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster pitched the first five innings for the Cubs.  Dempster gave up six hits but only one run which came on a home run.

The Cubbies will try to get back on track on Wednesday as Big Z takes the mounds.  I like the Cubs chances at evening the series at 1-1.  What do you all think?

Another weekend were I was so busy I could hardly watch any Cubs baseball and of course didn’t get the blog updated.  However, it was a good weekend for the Cubs as they took two out of three games in Toronto against the Blue Jays.  Exactly what we had hoped for before the series had started.

The Cubs are now 45-25 and 3.5 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the division.  They will play an exhibition game in the final Hall of Fame game Monday afternoon.  Word is that the Cubs will mostly be using minor league players for most of the game.

We should have a short update about the hall of game game today, and then get back into things full force during the Rays series that starts off Tuesday night.

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Wow, what a comeback for the Chicago Cubs as they beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 on Thursday in 11 innings.  Jim Edmonds hit the game tying home run in the ninth inning and then the Cubs loaded the bases in the 11th inning and Reed Johnson was hit by the first pitch that was thrown to him to score the winning run for the Cubs.

It was a pitching duel pretty much the entire game as Carlos Zambrano and Tim Hudson faced off.  Both pitchers ended up getting a no decision.  Zambrano threw seven innings and really only made one mistake.  He served up a two run home run to Jeff Francoeur in the second inning but other then that the Cubs pitchers all did a great job.

Scott Eyre, Carlos Marmol, Neal Cotts, and Kerry Wood all pitched out of the bullpen without allowing a run score.  Wood got the win for the Cubs as he pitched the 11th inning and he is now 3-1.

Good win for the Cubs as they swept the Braves in the three game series.  It will be interesting to see how they handle the D.H. situation up in Toronto this weekend as they take on the Blue Jays in a three game series.

How do you think the Cubs will do this weekend against the Blue Jays?

Well I’m sure all the Cubs fans out there have heard that Alfonso Soriano was hit by a pitch in last nights game against the Atlanta Braves and will be out the disabled list for a while.  Soriano broke a finger on his left hand, and then finger will be in a splint for the next three weeks atleast.  Expect Soriano to be out until around August.

So what will the Cubs do now?  Start Mark DeRosa in left field and give Mike Fontenot that majority of the starts at second base?  What about giving Ronny Cedeno some time at second base?  Micah Hoffpauir looks to be the guy that will get called up to take Soriano’s spot on the roster and he can see some time at left field as well as first base and DH in the upcoming interleage matchups.

Another name to look out for would be Eric Patterson.  We could see Patterson being called up along with Hoffpauir and a reliver sent back down to the minor leagues as the Cubs will need an extra batagainst the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend.

Ryan Dempster tossed a complete game for the Chicago Cubs on Wedneday night as they defeated the Atlanta Braves by the score of 7-2.  The complete game by Dempster was the first complete game by a Cubs pitcher this season.  The complete game was huge because it saved the bullpen from having to pitch in the game.

The Cubs got out to a good start at Kosuke Fukudome hit a three run home run in the first inning to put the Cubs up 3-0.  The Cubs then got two runs in the second inning and two more runs in the third inning.  In the second inning, Ryan Theriot had a two run double and in the third inning both runs came on a rbi single by Jim Edmonds.

One bad thing from the game however is that Alfonso Soriano was hit a by a pitch on his left hand and the pitch actually fractured part of his fourth finger.  Soriano will more then likely be out for two to three weeks as he as to be able to squeeze his fist and fit the hand into his glove before he can make a return.  It really sucks to see Soriano get hurt as he was just starting to get into another groove and hitting the ball pretty good.

I would expect Micah Hoffpauir is already on his way to Chicago or he will be early in the morning.

So how will the Cubs do as Soriano is headed to the disable list once again?  Leave us a comment and let us know your opinion.

The Chicago Cubs made the Atlanta Braves pay for their two errors as the Cubs beat the Braves 10-5 Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.  The Cub used a four run eighth inning to blow the game wide open.  The big hit was a three run home run by Geovany Soto with two outs in the eighth.  Soto was even called out by the Cubs fans for a curtain call after the home run.

Derrek Lee and Reed Johnson both had two runs batted in for the Cubs as well.  Johnson played a great game at the plate and in the outfield.  Johnson made two great running catches in the gaps that saved some runs.  I really like the energy that Johnson has brought the Cubs.

Aramis Ramirez, Kosuke Fukudome, and Mark DeRosa all had one rbi in the game as well.  Ramirez had two or three great plays at third base as well.  He started the game ending double play in the ninth inning on a hard hit ball and also made a great diving stop early in the game to get an out.

Cubs starting pitcher Ted Lilly gave up three early runs in the first inning on a home run by Greg Norton but then settled down to pitch 6 2/3 innings and pick up the win.  Lilly allowed four hits and the three runs while improving his record to 6-5 on the season.  If he could just start off the game better, he would last longer into the games.

Carlos Marmol struckout his one batter in the seventh inning before Bob Howry gave up four hits and two runs in the eighth inning.  Scott Eyre got the Cubs out of the eighth after coming in to get the last out and then Jon Lieber finished things off in the ninth inning as the Cubs got the victory.

The Cubs are now 41-24 on the season as they remain 2.5 games in first place in the Central Division.  Just keep on winning baby!

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The Chicago Cubs salvaged a split in the four game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers as they were able to come away with a 3-1 victory on Sunday night. Mark DeRosa went 3-4 with two rbi and Jason Marquis tosseed 6 1/3 while only giving up three base hits.

DeRosa got the scoring started for the Cubs with a solo home run in the first inning and then had a rbi single in the fifth inning.  Marquis pitched very good which was actually kind of suprising.  Marquis improved to 4-3 with the victory.  Kerry Wood notched his 18th save has he was lights out in the ninth inning and shut the Dodgers down 1-2-3.

Good road trip for the Cubs even though they struggled through most of it.  Coming away with four wins and three losses is decent on the road.  Now they will head back to Chicago to take on the Atlanta Braves in a three game series on Tuesday.

The Chicago Cubs had a complete game shutout thrown against them on Friday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers won 3-0.  I wasn’t able to watch hardly any of the game so I really don’t have that much to blog about this morning to be honest.

What I do know is that the Cubs struggled at the plate and only had four hits in the game.  Derrek Lee even got so upset that he broke at bat over his leg.  Usually you don’t see that kind of frustration out of Lee but he was pretty pissed off.

I will be out of town the next two days so I probably won’t be able to update the final two games of the series as well.  Hopefully the Cubs can do well while I’m away for my anniversary.

Go Cubs!