The Chicago Cubs made a round of roster cuts today to get their spring training roster down to 50.  The two most notable players to be send down were Tyler Colvin and Billy Petrick. Petrick was sent to Triple A Iowa, while Colvin was sent to minor league camp.

Other players sent to the minor league camp included Esmailin Caridad, Jose Ceda, Geoff Jones, Andres Torres, Bobby Scales, Wellington Castillo, and Josh Donaldson.

With the moves, the Cubs’ spring roster now is 50, and consists of 26 pitchers, four catchers, 12 infielders and eight outfielders. 

The wind was blowing in today but that didn’t matter as the Cubs and Giants combined for 17 runs in todays game.  The Cubs went on to win 9-8 but Barry Bonds sure made it close!  Bonds hit two homeruns in the game to inch closer to Hank Aaron on the alltime list.

Aramis Ramirez led the Cubs at the plate going 3-5 with 3 RBI’s and two runs scored.  Ramirez came up very big for the Cubbies today.  No way they would have won if he wasn’t in the lineup.

Jacque Jones had another good day at the plate as he went 3-4 with an RBI.  Jones has really played well the last few games.  Lou needs to keep running him out there in centerfield as he has really been playing well.

Others chipping in with RBI’s on the game were Alfonso Soriano, Cliff Floyd, Angel Pagan, and Mike Fontenot.  Gotta love that many players getting RBI’s in the game.

Ted Lilly started the game for the Cubs and lasted five innings giving up six hits and three earned runs.  He did give up Barry Bond’s first homerun of the game as well in the second inning.  Lilly did work out of some jams that helped him out but he wasn’t that sharp today.

The Cubs really used their bullpen once again as five relievers got into the game.  Billy Petrick pitched one inning allowing one hit, two walks, and two earned runs.  Michael Wuertz then came into the game and didn’t have much luck as he also allowed two earned runs.  Will Ohman served up Barry Bond’s second homerun of the game in the seventh inning that brough the score to 9-8.  Carlos Marmol did have a good outing over 1.1 innings allowing 0 runs on 0 hits.  Bob Howry picked up his eigth save of the year as he closed out the game in the ninth inning.

The Cubs took 3-4 from the Giants so that is always good when you win a series.  It wasn’t all good for the Cubs as Cliff Floyd and Daryle Ward both left the game with injuries.  As of right now we aren’t sure how server they are, but from early reports it sounds like they both could be day-to-day. 

The Cubs will start a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks tomorrow afternoon.   Lets hope this winning keeps on happening!

The Chicago Cubs on Thursday recalled righthander Sean Gallagher from Class AAA Iowa.This will mark Gallagher’s second stint in the majors, as he was 0-0 with a 9.53 ERA in three relief appearances in June. The 21-year-old made his debut on June 9 by tossing 3 1/3 innings at Atlanta.

In a corresponding roster move, righthander Billy Petrick was optioned to Iowa. Petrick, 23, had no record with a 3.18 ERA in four relief appearances with the Cubs.

This is clearly just a move to get a fresh arm in the bullpen to help out this weekend.  Expect another move to be made when the team comes back after the All Star break especially if Ryan Dempster is ready to go.

The Cubs continue their good play today as they swept the Colorado Rockies with a 6-4 win today.  That is now the Cubs sixth win in a row and their highest winning streak of the season.  Now if we can just get those pesky Brewers to lose!  Oh yeah, they are coming to Wrigley for a three game series starting Friday.  HUGE series and the Cubs need to go atleast 2 out of 3 against the Brew Crew.

Mark DeRosa and Mike Fontenot both had homeruns for the Cubbies as they got out to a big lead early in the ballgame.  DeRosa finished the game with three RBI’s and Fontonet had one.  Angel Pagan and Ryan Theriot also chipped in with one RBI each.

Carlos Zambrano picked up his ninth win on the season.  Carlos has really came on in the last 6 ballgames and is pitching like the pitcher he really is.  Zambrano threw six innings allowing five hits and two earned runs.  He did have eight strikeouts and three walks also.

Billy Petrick made his Major League Debut today throwing 1.2 innings. He had a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh with two strikeouts in the inning.  He was clocked at 97 in the inning as well.  He did run into some trouble in the top of the eight inning as Garrett Atkins hit a two run homer off of him.  Will Ohman then came in and got the final out of the inning.  Carlos Marmol pitched a great inning in the ninth to finish off the Rockies.

GO CUBS GO!

Hearing a lot of rumors on the Internet today that Jacque Jones will be traded today/this evening as the Cubs have called up Billy Petrick.  Petrick is a reliver who the Cubs can really use as the Howry and Eyre need to take a few days off to rest their arms.

Is Jones getting released or traded? We will keep you updated!