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On Friday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs got a break that they had been needing to get during this short season. Down 7-6 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Alfonso Soriano came up and hit a two-run home run to left field to give the Cubs a 8-7 lead and Carlos Marmol made the one-run lead holdup as the Cubs evened up the series at one game each.

It was a back and forth game as the Cubs had got out to a 3-0 lead after two innings but the Cardinals were able to get to Carlos Zambrano in the third inning when they scored four runs to take a 4-3 lead. Ryan Ludwick had the big shot off Zambrano has he went deep for a three-run homer. Luckwick would also add a solo shot off Big Z in the seventh inning. Zambrano sure wasn’t his usual self as he gave up nine hits, seven runs, and three home runs. Just a bad outing for him that you hope he will learn from.

Aramis Ramirez had a great day at the plate as he finished with three hits and three rbi in the game. He had rbi singles in the first and seventh innings and also had a rbi double in the fifth inning when the team came back to tie the game in the inning. Great job A-Ram!

My man out in right field MIcah Hoffpauir bounced back and went 2-4 on the day with an rbi of his own as well. I say keep throwing the guy out there while Bradley is hurt. He provides a nice bat that can knock in some runs atleast.

Carlos Marmol picked up the save which was his second of the season. Aaron Heilman pitched the eighth inning to notch his second win of the season.

Let’s see if the Cubs can start a little winning streak and beat the Cardinals on Saturday now! GO CUBS!

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AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

It was a rough day at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs on Thursday as they dropped the first game of a four game set to the rivals from the South. St. Louis beat the Cubs 7-4 behind three rbi and one home run from Chris Duncan. The three run loss is the second loss in a row for the Cubs who have now seen their record drop too 5-4 on the season.

It was the bottom of the Cardinals order that gave the Cubs pitchers fits all day. The sixth, seventh, and eighth hitters all hit home runs in the game. Duncan, Khalil Greene and Brian Barden did the damage with the long ball.

Cubs starting pitcher Sean Marshall got a no decision in the game as he tossed five innings. Marshall was decent but it seemed as though the Cardinals knew what pitches were coming, especially his big loopy curveball. Marshall’s line after his five innings was seven hits, three runs, two walks, and four strikeouts.

The loss went to rookie David Patton who had a rough go of things in the seventh inning. Patton allowed two rbi singles in the inning that put the Cardinals in the lead for good. Aaron Heilman and Angel Guzman both gave up runs as well.

There was really only one big hit for the Cubs offense and that came off the bat of Kosuke Fukudome. Fukudome hit a three run blast over the right-center field wall in the fifth inning. At the time the homerun put the Cubs ahead 4-3 but that would be the last of the Cubs scoring on the day.

I had blogged yesterday about starting Micah Hoffpauir in right field and guess what? He started! Was Lou reading the blog? I highly doubt it but even having Hoffpauir out there it didn’t make a bit of difference as he went 0-4 at the plate and left two runners on base.

Normal right fielder Milton Bradley pinch hit in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and ended up striking out in his first plate appearance in a Cubs uniform at Wrigley Field. It was a questionable call but the home plate umpire called him out on a inside curve ball. Bradley was not happy about it as he would have been on first base via a walk and the Cubs would have scored a run. It took about four seconds of yelling at the ump until he was ejected. Not too bad Milton, your first at bat at home and you got tossed lol.

Hopefully we see the Cubs stop the losing streak tomorrow afteroon when they send ace Carlos Zambrano to the mound.

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Former Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jason Marquis made his return to Wrigley Field on Wednesday afternoon and showed the Cubs what they traded away. Marquis tossed seven innings of one run baseball as he picked up the win for the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies would end up winning the game 5-2 and salvage a split in the short two game series.

Marquis didn’t just do it with his arm, he also knocked in a couple of RBI’s in the second inning when he had a run scoring single with the bases loaded off of Cubs starter Rich Harden. Speaking of Harden, he had eight strikeouts in the game but also gave up five hits and four runs in just three innings of action. Harden threw 92 pitches in the game as he struggled in the second and third innings to put away batters.

I thought that we might see another comeback for the Cubs against the Rockies but a stupid base running mistake by Mike Fontenot in the bottom of the ninth inning changed those thoughts rather quickly. Fontenot attempted to make it to third base on a ball that bounced five feet away from Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta and he was out by about three steps at third. Geovany Soto then grounded into a game ending double play to end the game.

You can tell right now that the lineup needs Milton Bradley and Aramis Ramirez in there. There just isn’t enough power in the middle of the lineup to score a lot of runs. How about starting Micah Hoffpauir in right field for a game and see what he does Lou? Just a thought…

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

It was a cold and rainy day at Wrigley Field on Monday afternoon but that did not stop the fans from showing up to kick off the 2009 season at Wrigley. The players didn’t let the fans down as they beat the Colorado Rockies 4-0 after a one hour and 12 minute rain delay. I do have to give credit to the fans that stayed for the entire game and the bleacher bums that had to have been soaked!

Crafyy left-hander Ted Lilly pitched great in his 6 2/3′s innings as he only allowed one hit. It was a great outing my Lilly as he only gave up two walks while striking out eight batters. Lilly did not give the Rockies a chance in the game and that is exactly what you wanted to see today. Lilly and three other Cubs relievers combined to only give up the one hit in the game as it was their best outing of the young season I had though.

At the plate, Derrek Lee led the team with two hits and two walks while picking up two RBI. Lee raised his poor average to .143 on the season. Kosuke Fukudome and Koyie Hill had an RBI each in the game as well. Kosuke added three walks and a hit as well.

The Cubs are now 5-2 on the season after getting the win on Monday. Over the Easter weekend, they took two out of three from the Milwaukee Brewers. We didn’t blog about the Saturday and Sunday games due to it being Easter but they were both exciting games that came right down to the end. The team will be off on Tuesday and then will be back at Wrigley to take on the Rockies on Wednesday.

Oh yeah, is anyone else scared when Kevin Gregg comes into the game?