Ryan Dempster took to the hill Tuesday night for the Cubs hoping to get the team back on the winning track and despite striking out ten Padres batters, he was not able to get the team on the winning track. Dempster had an up and down outing as he was charged with eight hits and four runs in seven innings of action. Not the quality outing Dempster was hoping for.

“I’m ticked off,” Dempster said. “I could’ve made better pitches. Guys put up runs early. I gave up a home run to the one guy [Adrian Gonzalez] in the lineup who you don’t want to beat you. It was a first-pitch split and he hit it out. I felt I could’ve been better. You allow 11 baserunners, you’re going to have a tough time winning the game.”

The Padres also tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning off of reliver Angel Guzman when rookie Kyle Blanks hit a inside the park home run. It just isn’t your teams night when the opposing team hits a inside the park home run.

The Cubs offense once again struggled as they couldn’t pick up Dempster and Guzman. Derrek Lee did hit his 24th home run of the season but other than that the team only had rbi singles from Alfonso Soriano (his 1500th hit) and Dempster. This offense is struggling and Lou doesn’t know what to do with them.

The Cubs know they need to go on a long winning streak but I don’t think they can perform under pressure to get it done. I don’t see this team making the post season.

- Cliff

Another game, and another blown save from “closer” Kevin Gregg. Gregg gave up four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning last night as the San Diego Padres came back from a 1-0 deficit to beat the Cubs in the first game of a three game series in San Diego. Gregg’s meatball fastball was once again working great for him as he gave up a rbi double that tied the game and then a walk off three-run home run to a rookie to take the loss.

There is no way you can trust Gregg out there on the mound. Something has got to change because hitters are sitting there looking for his meatball fastball and that’s it. You can’t continue to throw it right down the middle hoping hitters are going to miss it. This is the major leagues, not the minors Kevin…

“I think we are going to make some changes as far as what we’re going to do late innings,” said manager Lou Piniella, who added that he’d say more on the subject on Tuesday. “We’ll see what we do. I’m going to think about it tonight.”

The loss really hurts the team as they got a great performance out of Ted Lilly who made his return to the team. Lilly tossed six scoreless innings and allowed just four hits. He struck out four while only walking one batter. A very good start for Ted as he came back from being on the disabled list for a month.

Carlos Marmol and John Grabow both pitched well in relief of Lilly and before the meltdown by Gregg.

The one run the Cubs did get came in the eighth inning when Derrek Lee tripled to lead off the inning and then Aramis Ramirez knocked him in with a single to left field. Sure the offense didn’t do a great job, but they scored the one run that had the team in line to get the victory.

So where do the Cubs go from here? They are now six full games out of the division as the Cardinals keep on winning as the Cubs keep on losing. In the wildcard the Cubs are a full four games back. It’s not looking good for this team right now that’s for sure.

- Cliff

As expected and much needed, the Cubs were in line to sweep the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday however mother nature had something to say with that. The Cubs and Pirates were not able to get the game in on due to thunder storms through the Northside. Now the Cubs will probably only have three off days during their final 47 games.

So now after winning the two games on Friday and Saturday the Cubs are currently 4.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the division and three games out of the wild card. The Rockies and Marlins are currently playing and so every Cubs fan should be hoping for a Marlins win. From here on out the Rockies, Marlins, Giants and Braves are the teams that Cubs fans need to pay attention too. I really don’t see the team catching the Cardinals but the wild card is there for the taking.

Some good news for the team is that Ted Lilly will be returning to the rotation in San Diego and Carlos Zambrano is scheduled to make a start at Class A on Thursday as he rehabs. The team will also welcome back Aramis Ramirez to the lineup in San Diego. So everything isn’t lost for the Cubs, they really need to have a good series against the Padres however.

With the series out in San Diego, I will more than likely be posting in the mornings rather than the evenings since the games start so late. Remember to check out our in-game updates via twitter @chicagocubsblog

- Cliff

Things aren’t going the way everyone wants on the Northside of Chicago but hopefully things will turn around with a weekend series against the Pirates. On Thursday it was another loss as the Phillies finished off the Cubs with a 6-1 win and swept the Cubs on their home field.

There wasn’t a beer throwing incident today, but the same old thing. Terrible pitching and the lack of offense. Ryan Dempster pitched seven innings but struggled as he fell to 6-6 on the year. Dempster gave up home runs to Ryan Howard and Pedro Feliz in the fourth inning and that was enough runs for the Phillies as the Cubs offense could only push across one run.

The Cubs lone run would come off the bat of shortstop Ryan Theriot in the fifth inning. Theriot knocked in Jeff Baker with a single to center field. The offense is going to continue sucking it up until Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto start hitting the ball. They are hitting like pansies right now and it sure isn’t fun to watch that’s for sure.

The sweep for the Phillies at Wrigley Field was their first since the 1984 season. That’s how bad things are for the Cubs right now. Good news, the Pirates are coming to town for a weekend series and the Cubs should be able to get back on the winning track. The question is if they can catch the Cardinals who are now 4.5 games ahead in the division.

- Cliff