Ryan Dempster threw eight shut out innings on Tuesday night and Derrek Lee connected on a two-run home run in the eighth inning as the Cubs beat the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 to kick off their three game series at Wrigley Field. Dempster allowed just three hits as he picked up his first win since April 23rd.

Struggling Aramis Ramirez was out of the Cubs’ lineup for the third time in four games because of a sore left thumb. Jeff Baker started in his place. Ramirez needs to stay out of the lineup until he is 100% healthy and can actually swing a bat and make some contact. Some extra time in the batting cage wouldn’t hurt either.

The Cubs are now 22-24 and 12-10 at home. They were able to pick up a game in the standings and are now four games out of first place. The Reds and Cardinals lead the division right now with 26-20 records. Being four games out at this point isn’t too bad considering how poorly the offense has hit the ball. With warmer weather coming, look for the bats to heat up and the Cubs to move up in the standings and really challenge the Cardinals and Reds. The first chance will be a weekend series with the Cardinals in Chicago.

Can the Cubs get it done and start battling for first place? If the bats come around, I don’t see why not.

Well the Cubs are doing the same old thing, winning a few games in a row and then going on a three or four game losing streak. Right now they have won a couple games over the Rockies but have a couple of tough games against the Phillies in Philadelphia so anything could happen there.

Who would have thought Carlos Silva would be 5-0 to start the season? Definitely not me as I wasn’t even counting on Silva being a contributor to this team after coming over from the Mariners. I will give Silva credit though as he does have a 3.35 ERA go go along with that 5-0 record.

Tyler Colvin needs to get more playing time. I don’t care if it is in left field or in right field this kid can hit the ball and needs to be in the lineup.

Starlin Castro had some growing pains the first week in the big leagues especially on defense but since then those quick five errors the kid as really settled down and is playing great. Castro currently leads the team with a .350 batting average (only 40 at bats) and has five walks compared to three strikeouts. The kid simply puts the ball in play and makes something happen.

Carlos Zambrano is headed back into the rotation. Big Z pitched the ninth inning on Tuesday night against the Rockies but look for him to be back in the rotation as soon as he can get his arm stretched out and prepared to be a starter once again. The setup man role did not fit Zambrano well but I give him credit for going to the pen and giving it a try.

Aramis Ramirez still isn’t hitting the ball on a constant basis.

The Cubs remain 5.5 games out of first place heading into the Wednesday night game in Philadelphia. They do have a huge upcoming series against the Cardinals at home and that series could be the make or break point in the first half in my opinion. Win that series and pick up a few games on the Cardinals and the Cubs will be right there in the thick of things.

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Starlin Castro has received that call that every minor league ball player hopes for letting them know that they have been called up to the Major Leagues. The question I have to ask is this; Are the Cubs rushing Castro to the big leagues due to the slumps they have been going through? My answer is yes, they are in a win now mentality and will do pretty much anything to get back into contention.

Chad Tracy was optioned to Triple-A Iowa to make room for Starlin on the big league roster.

Castro has been lighting it up at the double-a level where has hit .376 with one home run and 20 RBI. Look for Ryan Theriot to move over to the 2nd base positon while Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker will keep the bench warm.

Many of us Cubs fans expected Castro to get the call this year but this is a lot earlier than most of us though. I just hope he isn’t being rushed by the management just like they did with Felix Pie and Corey Patterson. Those couldn’t miss prospects didn’t turn out good for the Cubs. Let’s all hope Castro doesn’t fall into that mold.

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Wow, after my last blog post of the Cubs offense sucking and the bullpen not doing a good job things have turned around for the club. After coming back and taking the final three games of a four game set against the Diamondbacks, the Cubs find themselves 7-3 in their last ten to match the St. Louis Cardinals and remain 4.5 games out of first place in the division.

What is it with this team? They will play three or four games and just hit the ball like crazy. (See Alfonso Soriano) and then they will play a couple of down right terrible games and not even make contact. Is it the early season games? Shouldn’t everyone be locked in and seeing the ball well? I don’t know but this next week of games could tell us a lot about this team.

The guys will head to Pittsburgh starting Tuesday night and then will take on the Reds in a weekend series. All six of those games should be wins for the club. Look for the team to get off on the right foot against the Pirates as Ryan Dempster will take the mound. I expect Dempster to have a quality outing and hopefully the offense stays hot and smacks around the Pirates pitching staff.

One guy that still needs to start hitting the ball is Aramis Ramirez. A-Ram is currently batting just 1.55 and will have two full days off before the game on Tuesday night. I don’t care what people say, Aramis needed more at bats during Spring Training. If you are going to the plate trying to hit 4-run home runs with no one on base your head isn’t in the game and you should probably just be on the bench.

The Cubs need to go on a nice run this week and move within a few games of the Cardinals. They can’t get down by 7-8 games as it will be hard to battle back against the Red Birds who look to be very strong this year.

It all starts Tuesday night with Dempster on the mound…

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