Thank god the month of April is over for the Chicago Cubs has the finished up the month of April with a disappointing 10-11 record. Thursday nights game against the Florida Marlins put the nail in the coffin for the month as the Marlins scored six runs in the 10th inning to beat the Cubs 8-2. Rather then dwell on just last nights game I figured I would  blog about the team so far.

First off the nagging day to day injuries are really hurting this team. Lou does not have the kind of bench he needs to have when players like Geovany Soto, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee and Milton Bradley are sitting games out. Aaron Miles has already started more games this season then he should during the entire first half of the season.

The slumping offense can’t hit the ball. Sure it has to do with the injuries as well but c’mon and atleast put the ball in play. The only bright spot so far at the plate has been Alfonso Soriano who is hitting .298 with seven home runs and 14 RBI. The biggest disappointment I would have to say would be Soto behind the plate. I don’t know if is the time he was at the World Baseball Classic and had to miss some of Spring Training or what, but the guy just can’t get a basehit right now.

When you aren’t hitting the ball and the bullpen can’t hold leads or keep your team in the game, you can’t have multiple errors in games. The defense as a team has been terrible from the play of Mike Fontenot at third base as he fills in for Ramirez, or Ryan Theriot at shortstop. Errors are hurting this team just as bad as the poor hitting.

All I can hope for is that as the weather warms up so do the Cubs. Currently the St. Louis Cardinals are five games ahead of the Cubs in the standings and that’s not where everyone thought the team would be on May 1. The good news is, there is plenty of time to turn things around and it all starts with an afternoon game today against the Marlins!

After having a great game on Tuesday night, the Cubs game back on Wednesday afternoon for the rubber game of a three game series against the Diamondbacks and they should probably just stayed in the hotel or got on the plane early to head back to Chicago. The Cubs offense was terrible, the pitching was terrible and it was just a down right ugly game to watch as the Diamondbacks hammered the Cubs 10-0.

As a team, the Cubs only had two hits on the day. Ryan Theriot and Aaron Miles each had one hit but that was all the team would get at the plate. It was just disgusting watch them swing the bat against Doug Davis. Who would have thought that Davis would shut down the Cubs? Hmm I sure didn’t…

On the pitchers mound, Ryan Dempster took the loss as he gave up five runs on six hits in six innings of action. Three walks and a home run by Chad Tracy really hurt Dempster on the mound. He just hasn’t been throwing the ball that well. Atleast nothing like last year. Throwing 30 pitches in the first inning you knew it was going to be a long day for Dempster.

Once Dempster left the game, things didn’t change however as reliever Carlos Marmol was charged with four runs while only recording one out. He left the game and gave way to Jeff Samardzija who gave up a bases loaded double to Justin Upton. All three of those runs were charged to Marmol. Something is still wrong with Marmol’s knee in my opinion and I would not be one bit surprised if he goes on the disabled list along with Aramis Ramirez once the team gets back to Chicago.

And guess what else? Kevin Gregg gave up another run!

This team is playing ugly baseball right now all the way around. Will a change of scenery and a homestand against the Marlins and Giants change things? We will have to wait and see…

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

What a difference a night makes for the Chicago Cubs. After dropping the first game down in Arizona 7-2, the Cubs bounced back and crushed the Diamondbacks 11-3 on Tuesday night. The team got a great performance out of Carlos Zambrano who tossed seven innings and had three hits including a home run. Big Z improved too 2-1 on the season and the home run was his 17th of his career.

It was great watching the game last night because the Cubs were actually hitting the ball! Alfonso Soriano stayed hot as he hit is seventh home run of the season. Mike Fontenot hit another home run as well in the game as he fills in for Aramis Ramirez at third base. Another player that had a great night at the plate was backup catcher Koyie Hill who collected three hits as he gave Geovany Soto a night off from behind the dish.

Talking about Aramis Ramirez, he tried to run before the game and test out his strained calf but he could not accelerate at all. Lou said that he would be re-examined in Chicago and the team would go from there. I’d expect to see Ramirez land on the disabled list. Good news about Derrek Lee however, he is expected to make his return to the lineup Wednesdsay afternoon as the Cubs and D-backs finish up their three game series.

The Cubs are now one game above .500 at 11-10 on the season. The have Wednesday’s game in Phoenix and then will head back to Chicago for two three-game series. The Florida Marlins and San Francisco Giants will be coming to town.

Be back this afternoon!

It was another game on Monday night for the Chicago Cubs but another loss as they dropped to 9-9 on the season with a 7-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. As I watched the game, all I could think was that this wasn’t the Cubs team that we all invisioned at the beginning of the season. The team started Micah Hoffpauir, Mike Fontenot and Aaron Miles once again as Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee were still out with nagging day to day injuries. It looked like a minor league team playing out there to be honest.

From stupid fielding errors to errant throws it was just a bad night all around. Factor in the fact that the Diamondbacks were able to steal five out of six bases against Ted Lilly, David Patton and Geovany Soto and it was a very long night. I have to wonder if Soto is injured or still being bothered by his shoulder injury and doesn’t want to come out of the game because the team is all ready short handed?

The Cubs offense had started the game off nicely as Alfonso Soriano opened up the game with a lead off home run off Dan Haren but the Cubs would only score one more run the entire game. Mike Fontenot used 10 pitch at bat in the in the eighth inning and finally got a pitch he could drive and hit his second home run of the season. As a team the Cubs were limited to just to three hits and struck out 10 times.

I thought Ted Lilly through the ball ok. The flood gates really opened up for the D-backs in the in the fourth inning when Haren was able to bounce a ball over the head of Fontenot who was playing a shallow third base. Two runs would score on the Haren double and then the next batter Chris Young doubled to center field that scored two more runs. After that, it was over for the Cubs who had no offense on the night.

The Cubs really need Ramirez and Lee back in the lineup so there is atleast some pop in in the batting order. It sounds like one of them might play on Tusday night and if not on Wednesday. Things need to get turned around quickly no matter what!

AP Photo/Matt York