It was another bad outing for Kevin Gregg and the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night as they opened up a three game set with the Philadelphia Phillies. Gregg was in his second inning of action when Ben Francisco took him yard for a lead off home run in the 12th inning. The Phillies would end up winning the game by the score of 4-3 and Gregg would be left wondering why he is giving up so many home runs.

“I want to keep the ball in the ballpark,” Gregg said. “Obviously, it’s not happening for me. I’ve got to keep plugging away at it and figure out a way to stop it.” Gregg said after the game.

It really sucks to lose a game like this especially when it is against the Phillies. These are the type of games that Cubs need to win if they want to compete in the playoffs. If Carlos Marmol and Gregg continue to walk batters and give home runs, the Cardinals are going to run away with this division in my opinion.

The poor outing by Marmol and Gregg makes everyone forget about the good outing that starting pitcher Rich Harden had. Harden had a perfect game going until the sixth inning and he only made one mistake in the game. The first hit for the Phillies would be a two run home run off the bat of Jimmy Rollins. Other than that one mistake, Harden struck out six while only giving up two hits and the two runs.

Wednesday night it will be Jeff Samardzija getting the start against the Phillies Pedro Martinez. It will be interesting to watch this matchup. Will “The Shark” get out of the first three or four innings? Will Pedro shut down the Cubs in his return?

- Cliff

It was a very ugly night in Denver on Monday night for the Cubs as they lost once again to the Rockies. This time it was by the score of 11-5 as the Cubs got down right away and then starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny left the game with a right foot contusion in the second inning. Gorzelanny was touched for six runs, all earned, in his 1 1/3 innings on the hill.

The Cubs pitchers could not figure out Troy Tulowitzki as he hit for the cycle and led the Rockies with five hits and seven rbis.

The offense for the Cubs was down right terrible. They left the bases loaded in the first and second innings and were not able to score until the sixth inning when Geovany Soto led the inning off with a solo home run. They would then tack on four more runs in the ninth inning but it was too late to really get back in the game.

All the team can really do is forget about this series in Denver because they have huge three game set with the Philadelphia Phillies in Chicago starting Tuesday night. Yeah, a short turn around for the team which is a good thing in my opinion.

Oh yeah, can we please have a injury free series for once and get Aramis Ramirez back in the lineup?

- Cliff

With the series tied 1-1 on Sunday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs were hoping to take a one game lead in the four game set but that sure didn’t happen in the 11-5 loss. Lou Piniella was ejected in the second inning when he argued a play at second base and the team just didn’t respond like you had hoped they would.

Despite 17 hits, the Cubs could only muster five runs against the Rockies. Milton Bradley did go 4-5 while catcher Koyie Hill chipped in with three hits of his own but as a team they just didn’t score enough runs to keep up with the Rockies.

The real weak spot for team on Saturday was the pitching staff. Starter Randy Wells who had been throwing the ball very good was rocked for seven runs in just over five innings of action. Wells, who had lost once since June 12, gave up seven runs on eight hits, struck out three and walked two.

Jeff Stevens wasn’t much better than Wells as he allowed five hits and four runs in one inning.

The Cubs stranded 13 runners and tied a season high with three errors. Just a terrible performance. Hopefully they will bounce back with a victory on Monday and salvage a split in the four game series.

Remember that Chicago Cubs Blog is on Twitter @chicagocubsblog . If we don’t update the site after a game, head on over to Twitter and add us where we almost always have a quick update on the game!

Good morning Cubs fans! I was going to have a blog update up last night after the game but we had a severe thunderstorm roll through town and I was unable to get the post up as soon as I wanted. So here it is this morning.

The Cubs got a great debut performance out of lefty Tom Gorzelanny as he gave up just one run in seven and one thirds innings. Gorzelanny allowed just three hits and even helped himself out at the plate with a rbi single in the sixth inning. Gorzelanny said it’s awesome to have so many fans cheering you on even on the road during his post game interview. Just wait until you pitch in front of the Wrigley Field crowd kid!

Kosuke Fukudome and Derrek Lee both hit solo home runs to pace the Cubs. Fukudome led the game off with a solo shot and then Lee added one in the seventh inning for some insurance. Fukudome would also add another rbi with a single in the sixth inning.

The big blast the broke the game open in the sixth inning came off the bat of catcher Koyie Hill who doubled with the bases loaded. Aramis Ramirez and Jake Fox would both score to make the score 3-0. It was a great performance by the Cubs as they pounded out nine hits against the Reds pitchers.

The downside of the game was the Cubs still can’t close out games without giving up some runs. It was Angel Guzman’s chance on Tuesday night and he didn’t get the job done as he gave up two hits and two runs including a solo home run in just over one inning of action. Guzman was my choice to be closer but it doesn’t look like he is ready to take over that role either.

Kevin Gregg is expected to pitch on Wednesday. Hopefully the Cubs have a nice big lead when he enteres the game because who knows how things will work out.

- Cliff