The Chicago Cubs finished up a day - night double header against the Atlanta Braves with a 8-0 win in the night cap.  Earlier in the day the Cubs crushed the Braves 10-2.  It was the first time since 1992 where the Cubs swept both games of a double header.  Chicago now has won seven straight road games for the first time since June 12-22, 2004, and is 26 games over .500 at 73-47 for the first time since the team finished the 1984 season 31 games up at 96-65.  The Cubs are also up 3.5 games on the Brewers in the division.

Rich Harden picked up his second win with the Cubs and is now 2-1 as he tossed five innings and only allowed two hits.  Harden did work out of a couple of jams and his pitch count was getting up around 90 so he was taken out after five innings.  The Cubs are being very cautious with Harden and if he can give them five or six innings everytime out there they will be happy with that.  Chad Gaudin, Sean Marshall, Kerry Wood, and Neal Cotts all threw one inning of relief out of the bullpen.  Cotts was the only reliever to give up a hit as the entire pitching staff limited the Braves to only three hits.

Aramis Ramirez and Kosuke Fukudome led the team with two rbi’s each.  Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Jim Edmonds, and Mike Fontenot all chipped in with one rbi as well.  It was a big combined effort at the plate as the Cubs plated eight runs in the game.  The bats jumped all over the Braves pitchings from the get go and put a lot of pressure on the Braves bullpen.  I look for the bats to continue scoring runs and the Cubs to win again on Thursday night.

Now can we just start seeing the Brewers lose some games!?

The Cubs got things started off nicely with a 10-2 victory in the first game of two against the Atlanta Braves.  After last nights game was rained out, the Cubs came out of the gates and swung the bats very good while knocking out the Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton out of the game after only 2 1/3 innings.  The Braves bullpen had to throw a lot of pitches so I really like the teams chances of sweeping the double header.

Geovany Soto and Jim Edmonds had a great game at the plate.  Soto had a two run double and a two run home run to finish the game 3-4 with four rbi.  Edmonds had a two run home run and a rbi double to finish with three rbi.  Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot, and Mark Derosa all added one rbi each as well.

Jason Marquis threw a lot of pitches as he worked out of multiple jams but lasted 5 1/3 innings to pick up the win.  Marquis is now 8-7 on the year with a 4.67 era.  Neal Cotts finished up the sixth inning after Marquis exited the game and then Jeff Samardzija pitched the seventh and eighth innings.  Bob Howry finished things up with a scoreless inning in the ninth.

The Cubs should be setup nicely for the second game of the double header as Rich Harden will start the game.  The Cubs still have Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol in the bullpen as well.  Hopefully we see a double header sweep of the Braves and then a Padres win over the Brewers!

GO CUBS!!

The Cubs gained another game on the arch rival Cardinals Sunday night with a comfortable 6-2 win. Ryan Dempster picked up his 13th win (11th at Wrigley) going 6+ strong innings of work. Aramis Ramirez went 2-3 with 2 runs scored for the Cubs. Ronny Cedeno and Mark DeRosa had a pair of RBIs while Derrek Lee added an RBI single.

Jim Edmonds made a key diving catch in the 4th with 2 outs and Cardinals on 2nd and 3rd. Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol pitched scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th to preserve the win and push the Cards to 7.0 GB. After an off day, the Cubs are in Atlanta for a 3 game set starting Tuesday.

Mike

What a way to kick off an exciting weekend of baseball between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals!  The Cubs and Cards played extra innings and it was the Cubs coming out on top with a 3-2 victory in 11 innings on Friday afternoon.  Great pitching and timely hitting for the Cubs was what pushed them over the top.

Jim Edmonds, playing against his former team had two solo home runs to lead the Cubs with two rbi.  Edmonds went deep in the second and seventh innings of the game.  Without Jimmy, the Cubs would have been shutout and lost the game.  Great game for Edmonds!

The game winning run in the 11th inning came off the bat of Henry Blanco who was hitting with zero outs and the bases loaded.  Blanco signled to left field and Derrek Lee scored the winning run.  Lee started the inning off with a walk and then moved to third base on a single by Aramis Ramirez.  Cardinals pitcher Ryan Franklin then walked Kosuke Fukudome to load the bases before Blanco’s game winning hit.

On the mound it was Bob Howry picking up the win to improve his record to  5-4.  Howry looked pretty good in his one inning of action as he threw a lot more breaking balls early in the count then he has been.  Great to see Howry out there throwing the ball like he is capable of.

Jeff Samardzija allowed one hit in two innings as he did a great job as well.  Jeff has really been throwing the ball well and Lou has a lot of confidence in him right now.  Ted Lilly pitched 7 1/3 innings before being taken out in the eighth inning for Carlos Marmol.  Marmol finished up the eighth inning by recording the final two outs.

The Cubs and Cards will battle it out Saturday afternoon in the second game of the series.  The game will be shown on FOX so make sure you tune if you can’t make it to the game. I’ll be sitting out in the bleachers with my wife and I can’t wait!

The Chicago Cubs used a eight run second inning as they finished off the Houston Astros with a 11-4 victory on Wednesday afternoon.  Alfonso Soriano had a three run shot in the inning and Mark DeRosa smashed a grand slam in the second inning as well.  Kosuke Fukudome, Geovany Soto, and Jason Marquis also added rbi’s in the game as the Cubs offense was on fire.

Marquis finally earned another victory and is now 7-7 on the season.  Marquis gave up six hits and four runs over 6 1/3 innings.  Wasn’t that great of a start but it was good enough to get the job done thanks to the offense.  Sean Marshall tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings while Jeff Samardzija tossed the final inning without any problems.

Now the team will be on Thursday before they start off a huge weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals.  I’ll be at games on Saturday and Sunday and cannot wait!

It was an up and down game for the Cubs on Tuesday afternoon as they blew a 6-1 lead and then came back to defeat the Houston Astros 11-7.  Alfonso Soriano provided the big blast that broke the tie in the seventh inning when he hit a three run home run.  Soriano’s 20th homer highlighted a five-run burst and sent the NL Central-leading Cubs to their eighth win in 10 games.

Starting pitcher Rich Harden didn’t have his best game as he gave up eight hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings.  Bob Howry once again gave up runs as he was charged with two runs in 1 1/3 innings.  It was nice to see Kerry Wood back in action as he pitched a scoreless eighth inning before Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless ninth inning.  To make room on the roster for Wood, the Cubs designated Scott Eyre for assignment.

General manager Jim Hendry had been trying to trade Eyre for quite a while but was unable to get anything done.  The team designated him instead of sending Neal Cotts or Sean Marshall down.

What does everyone think about the Eyre?

Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend as I was pretty busy and didn’t have a chance to watch the games.  I’m now in the great city of Chicago for the week and will be attending a couple of games this weekend.  Should have regular updates all week long.

Wow, what a crazy night at Wrigley Field and the city itself last night as two huge storms rolled through causing delays and fans wondering what they should do.  The lightning was crazy and there were tornado warnings all around the city.  I was suprised they didn’t call the game during the first delay to be honest.

In the end however it was the Astros on top of the Cubs 2-0 when the game was called in the bottom of the eighth inning.  Ryan Dempster took the lose for the Cubs and is now 12-5 on the year.  He gave up single runs in the first and fourth innings of the game.

One thing I noticed in the game was that the hitters were not as patient as they usually are.  They struckout seven times while only walking once in the game.  Hopefully they will come out and swing the bats better Tuesday afternoon.

It will be a short turnaround for the players and fans as the teams will play an afternoon game today.  Rich Harden will take the mound for the Cubs.

All good things had to come to an end and that is exactly what happened on Friday afternoon for the Chicago Cubs.  The Cubs offense coudln’t do anything and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cubs 3-0.  That was not the way the team wanted to start a weekend series with the Pirates.  Now we have to sit back and hope that the Brewers and Cardinals both lose tonight to stay five games up in the division.

Jason Marquis took the loss for the Cubs as he gave up all three runs.  Jason Michaels and Jack Wilson both hit rbi singles in the second inning and then Michaels added a solo home run in the sixth inning.  It didn’t matter how many runs Marquis gave up on the day however because the offense had all sorts of problems.

The Cubs offense left 15 runners on base while striking out four times.  Once again the double play ball really hurt them in the game.  Geovony Soto had a bad day at the plate as he went 0-4 and left five runners on base.

Enjoy your evening everyone and lets talk some Cubs baseball on Saturday afternoon as the Cubs try to even up the series with the Pirates.

May 14th, 2008 - CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs today signed outfielder Jim Edmonds to a 2008 contract

Let’s be honest: Who didn’t think Jim Edmonds was done? He was a washed up Cub killer that was going to continue to kill the Cubs, but this time, in a Cubs uniform. For the first week and a half or so, it looked like we were all going to be right. Edmonds picked up only 3 hits (all singles) in his first 24 at-bats as a Cub. (8 games) Then came May 30th - maybe the most memorable game of the season to date, the Cubs 10-9 come from behind win vs. The Rockies. Edmonds went 3-4 with 3 RBI, and his first Cubs homerun. He had at least won over Cubs fans for one day.

Combined with an adjusted batting approach and a bit more confidence, Edmonds went on a tear. Edmonds went on to hit .319 in June with 6 HRs, 6 times the total he hit in his abbreviated San Diego Padres career. Slowly but surely, Edmonds began to look like the player he was with St. Louis, haunting the Cubs time and time again with his opposite field bombs and diving catches, only this time, he was helping them. What has made the Edmonds pickup so key is that his hits always seem to mean something throughout the course of a ballgame. His game tying blast against Atlanta on throwback day at Wrigley, his 2 homeruns in an inning during the Crosstown Classic, and his grandslam yesterday to finish off the sweep of the Brewers come to mind for instance.

Although a bothersome knee has kept Edmonds out of the lineup for a few stretches this season, Reed Johnson has filled in admirably in a platoon/fill-in role. There’s no doubt that this year’s Edmonds/Johnson centerfield duo has already outperformed the Felix Pie/Jacque Jones mess of 2007 both offensively and in the field. So Jim Hendry did it once again. He’s sometimes seen as a guy that never makes the right moves, but it seems he picked a winner with Jim Edmonds. Did he build the ultimate winner in the 2008 Chicago Cubs? Stay tuned.

Mike

Wow!  The Chicago Cubs beat up on the Milwaukee Brewers once again and completed a four game sweep of the Brewers up in Milwaukee.  The Cubs got great pitching from Rich Harden and great hitting in the game as they won 11-4.  The Cubs are now five games up on the Brewers in the division!

Harden threw seven innings to get his first win with the Cubs.  Harden allowed six hits and one run while striking out nine batters.  His only mistake was to Prince Fielder who hit a solo home run in the seventh inning.  Other then that one mistake, Harden was wheeling and dealing all game long.  Bob Howry tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth inning and then Scott Eyre was charged with three runs in the ninth inning.  Yeah you read that right, Howry threw a scoreless inning!  Eyre continues to struggle as he just isn’t getting used that much anymore.  He needs to get into a good rythum but I don’t think Lou has very much confidence in him right now.

The offense was led by Jim Edmonds who had two home runs and five rbi.  Edmonds first hit a solo home run in the third inning, and then added a grand slam in the fourth inning.  Kosuke Fukudome added a two run home run while Alfonso Soriano also had a solo shot.  Mike Fontenot had two rbi in a pitch hitters role and Aramis Ramirez added a rbi as well.

Overall it was a great series for the Cubs as they pretty much crushed the brew crew in every game.  The Cubs will now welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates into town for a afternoon game on Friday.  Hopefully the Cubs keep playing good and we can get another sweep and extend the lead in the division!

GO CUBS GO!