Well the Cubs aren’t going to go undefeated in 2009 as they lost the second game of the season on Tuesday night to the Houston Astros. Neal Cotts gave up back to back singles to open the 10th inning and then Kevin Gregg was called upon to get the Cubs out of the inning but that isn’t how things turned out. Gregg was able to get Jason Michaels out on a fly ball to center but both runners tagged up. First base was open and the Cubs elected to intentionally walk Miguel Tejada which brought Jeff Keppinger to the plate. Keppinger ended the game when he singled to left field and Ivan Rodriguez scored.

The Cubs just didn’t have the offense going as they struggled early on against Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez. As a team they only had six hits in the game. Ryan Theriot led the team with two hits while Alfonso Soriano had a solo home run. Soriano’s shot to left field in the 8th inning tied the game up at 2-2. Derrek Lee had the other rbi for the Cubs when he singled in Theriot in the 3rd inning.

I thought starting pitcher Ryan Dempster threw the ball good for his first outing of the season. He went six innings while only giving up six hits and two runs. He did walk three batters however and struck out five.

Angel Guzman did a great job in the seventh inning as he didn’t allow a hit. The only base runner for the Astros in the 7th inning was Kaz Matsui who reached on an error by Theriot. Koyie Hill picked Theriot up when he gunned down Matsui who attempted to steal second base however.

Hill was in the game because Geovany Soto left the game in the sixth inning with soreness in his right shoulder. Soto said that he should be back in a few days as he just needs to keep up on his exercises which help out his shoulder.

The Cubs and Astros will finish up the three game series Wednesday night. It will be Ted Lilly on the mound for the Cubs and Brian Moehler for the Astros.

Photo via AP/Pat Sullivan

Carlos Zambrano picked up his first career opening day win as he pitched six innings and the Cubs beat the Houston Astros 4-2. What a way to start off the 2009 season for Zambrano and the Cubs!

Alfonso Soriano started off the game with a solo home run and Aramis Ramirez matched him in the second inning with a solo shot of his own as the Cubs went up 2-0. Ryan Theriot knocked in his cajan connection buddy Mike Fontenot in the fourth inning as the Cubs added to the lead to make it 3-0. Utlity lefty Micah Hoffpauir playing in front of his family knocked in a big run in the ninth inning with a sharp single to right field that plated Fontenot.

Big Zambrano was pretty dominate in his six innings of action as he only allowed five hits and one run. He struck out six batters while walking three. After a lead off walk to start the game, Zambrano settled down and gave the team a great outing.

Aaron Heilman and Neal Cotts were able to get out of the seventh inning with only allowing the run to score that was charged to Zambrano. Both players did a great job before the turned things over to Carlos Marmol in the eighth inning who walked one but did not allow him to score. In the ninth inning, new closer Kevin Gregg ran into some trouble as he allowed one run and and the tieing run at the plate, but he was able to get pitch hitter Jason Smith to ground out to Derrek Lee to end the game.

Overall, I thought it was a good first game for the Cubs. Now they have the jitters out of the way and can settle down as they take on the Astros again tomorrow night. Ryan Dempster will get the start against Wandy Rodriguez as the Cubs try to pick up another win down in Houston.

What were your thoughts on the first game of the season?

**Photo via the AP/Pat Sullivan**

Rule 5 player David Patton and Angel Guzman both received good news on Sunday as they were told that they have earned spots on the opening day 25-man roster. In a surprising move, Chad Gaudin was released after Jim Hendry could not find a taker that would take on his full salary. Instead, the Cubs released him and will be due to pay $1.6 million of his $2 million salary. The other team will be the $400,000 of the contract once someone picks him up.

Jeff Samardzija was also sent down to Triple-A as he had options left. The Shark was the odd man out pretty much because he had options left while Patton and Guzman did not. Samardzija will be stretched out and work in a starting pitching positon for Iowa.

I agree with these moves that Hendry made. Gaudin was absolutely terrible this spring training and really didn’t deserve a spot on the roster. He was never the same player after hurting is back when “falling” into a trashcan late last season. Guzman wasn’t that bad but did start throwing the ball better as spring training went on. Samardzija was optioned to Iowa basically because he had options left and can get more work in there in a starting pitchers role. Patton could be a big player for the Cubs out of the pen if he continues to throw the ball well. The Cubs will have to keep him on the active roster or return him back to the Colorado Rockies if they want him back. Which after seeing him throw this Spring, I’m sure they would take him back in a heartbeat. If that’s the case, it’s too bad we couldn’t also sent back Luis Vizcaino who has pitched like crap.

It will be interesting Monday night when the Cubs open up the 2009 season down in Houston. I’m excited to have the season start but I’m worried about the backend of the rotation and the bullpen. I just need to see the 3-5 starters get some early season wins and see Kevin Gregg save games on back to back days. Once we see those things, I think we will be alright!

Wow, talk about some terrible drafting by the Chicago Cubs. You can say that all three of these players were complete busts after being drafted so high by the Cubs. In the past week, the team has cut ties with Ryan Harvey, Grant Johnson and Mark Pawelek. Three players right there that when they were drafted, we had all thought would be helping out the big league team about right now. I guess the team felt they needed to go in another direction even though the players are only in their 20′s.

I know a lot of people thougth Pawelek was a stupid signing when it happened. Sure he was a fireball thrower, but he played in the state of Utah and didn’t exactly face the best competition out of high school. Also, it was very weird seeing him sign the same day even though he was a Scott Boras client. Talk about taking seven figures from the Cubs and giving nothing back as far as production! Oh yeah, we can’t forget about the falling in the middle of the night over your Playstation and breaking your arm! Or having passport problems and getting shut down the rest of the year even though you were healthy. Sounds like there was more to Pawalek then most of us know.

Pawelek appeared in only 54 games over four seasons with the Cubs, mostly at short-season Low Class-A Boise. He was 6-12 with a 3.80 ERA and 147 strikeouts and 79 walks in 149 1/3 innings in those four seasons.

Pawelek was told “We have exhausted all efforts with you, and things did not go as we planned.’ Basically … ‘you’re not playing well and we don’t want you around anymore in Pawelek’s words.’”

Harvey is actually one player I was excited to see progress through the Cubs minor league system. However that never really happened as he only made it to Double-A Tennessee. Harvey compiled a career batting average of .247 in 471 games with a career .298 OBP. He was the Cubs first round pick in the 2003 draft and the sixth overall pick. Ryan had a very hard time hitting the ball in the minor leagues, and the Cubs had thoughts of coverting him to a pitcher as he also pitched in highschool but he didn’t want any part of that I have heard.

As for Johnson, he was the teams first pick in the 2004 draft even though he was drafted in the second round out of Notre Dame. Johnson struggled at Class-A Daytona Double-A Tennessee last season as he compiled a 5.32 ERA to go along with a 3-8 record.

The Cubs also released Paul Bako and Mike Stanton as they have trimmed their Major League roster down to 28 players. Expect to see a trade or release involving Chad Gaudin or Angel Guzman who both have struggled this spring and both are out of options. We could also possible see Jeff Samardzija be sent down Triple-A Iowa.