It wasn’t the outcome that the Cubs players were all hoping for as the American League beat the National League All Stars 4-3 in 15 innings.  Both teams had their chances to score in the late innings but it wasn’t until the 15th inning that the A.L. pushed across the winning run.

The Cubs players didn’t do badly in the game.  Geovany Soto and Kosuke Fukudome both went 0-2 including a strikeout each.  Soto also allowed two runners to steal bases but he really didn’t have a good shot at either runner as they had huge leads.  Aramis Ramirez went 0-0 with a walk in the ninth inning.  He was then replaced by Cristian Guzman who pitch ran.  The Cubs pitchers did great as Carlos Zambrano threw two scoreless innings while Ryan Dempster and Carlos Marmol both pitched a scoreless inning each.

It was very funny watching Big Z throw a 96 MPH fastball to Manny Ramirez and then come back with his slow curve ball that went over the head of Manny.  Both players laughed it off and then Z was able to get him to ground out to second.  Dempster and Marmol struckout a combined five batters in their two innings of action.

Now if the Cubs do happen to make it far in the post season, they will not have home field advantage for the series.  That is the part that really sucks about losing the all star game.  What are your opinion on that?

Carlos Zambrano made one mistake to Adam Dunn in the second inning but after that he shut down the next 20 batters and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-1.  Zambrano was dealing as he picked up his 10th win of the season.

There was a little trouble in the ninth inning for Carlos Marmol who gave up a infield single and then walked the next two batters to load the bases.  Lou Piniella then brought in closer Kerry Wood who got Brandon Phillips to pop up to Derrek Lee to end the game.  Only giving up two hits is awesome and better yet the Cubs picked up another victory.

Aramis Ramirez got back on track going 2-3 with a solo home run and rbi double to finish the game with two rbi.  Kosuke Fukudome and Lee both had a rbi in the game as well.  The other run for the Cubs that was unearned came in the second inning when Mark DeRosa scored on an error by the Reds shortstop.

It was a great win because the Cardinals and Brewers both lost as well.  The Cubs wll turn right around and play the Reds once again on Thursday afternoon as Ted Lilly takes the mound for the Cubs.

GO CUBS GO! 

The Chicago Cubs are sending a total of seven players to the 2008 All Star game in New York City.  Kosuke Fukudome, Alfonso Soriano, and Geovany Soto will all be starters in the game.  Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, and Kerry Wood were all named reserves.

The seven All-Stars is a franchise record. The Cubs have had six, most recently in 1988, when Andre Dawson, Shawon Dunston, Vance Law, Greg Maddux, Rafael Palmeiro and Ryne Sandberg were all named.

We cannot forget that manager Lou Piniella will also be a coach on the team.

Congrats to everyone, and good job by all the Cubs fans voting for for the players!

Carlos Zambrano came off the 15 day disabled list at the right time as he pitched six innings and the Chicago Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1.  Zambrano was on a pitch count of 90 and he threw 87 pitches before being pulled.  Big Z said that he could have went one or two more innings but he appreciates the way the coaching staff handled the situation.

Kosuke Fukudome got the Cubs started in the first inning when he hit a solo home run to put the Cubs up 1-0.  Geovany Soto then hit his 14th home run of the season in the fourth inning to make it 2-0 in favor of the Cubs.

Kerry Wood pitched the ninth inning to get his 22nd save of the season and the Cubs are now up 3.5 games on the Cardinals in the division.

I sure hope that Aramis Ramirez can come out of his slump on Saturday afternoon as the two teams play once again on Saturday afternoon.  Ramirez is in an 0-for-22 slump his last six games.

The Chicago Cubs and Carlos Zambrano lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 5-4 on Wednesday night.  Zambrano was shaky all game long and actually came out of the game with some shoulder discomfirt in the sixth inning after he recorded two outs.  Hopefully it won’t be too bad, but you never know with a shoulder injury.

The Cubs had plenty of changes to score more runs in the game but they kept on leaving runners stranded on the bases.  Geovany Soto did hit a solo home run in the ninth inning but it wasn’t enough for the Cubs to come back.  Soto almost hit a home run earlier in the game as well but it bounced a foot below the fence and he slide into second with a double.

Ryan Theriot had two rbi’s for the Cubs and Kosukue Fukudome had one rbi.  Fukudome did strike out looking for the final out of the game though.  Theriot was on first base but Troy Percival was able to settle down and get the next three guys out.

One other thing that I have been wondering lately.  Where in the hell have Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee been the last two or three weeks?  It really seems that both players are slumping badly.

So now the Cubs have lost two games in a row to the Rays.  They have both been one run games that we have been accustomed to seeing the Cubs win but that wasn’t the case against the Rays.  The Cubs will try to avoid the sweep on Thursday night and then fly right back to Chicago for an afternoon game against the hated rivals Chicago White Sox.

Wow, what a comeback for the Chicago Cubs as they beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 on Thursday in 11 innings.  Jim Edmonds hit the game tying home run in the ninth inning and then the Cubs loaded the bases in the 11th inning and Reed Johnson was hit by the first pitch that was thrown to him to score the winning run for the Cubs.

It was a pitching duel pretty much the entire game as Carlos Zambrano and Tim Hudson faced off.  Both pitchers ended up getting a no decision.  Zambrano threw seven innings and really only made one mistake.  He served up a two run home run to Jeff Francoeur in the second inning but other then that the Cubs pitchers all did a great job.

Scott Eyre, Carlos Marmol, Neal Cotts, and Kerry Wood all pitched out of the bullpen without allowing a run score.  Wood got the win for the Cubs as he pitched the 11th inning and he is now 3-1.

Good win for the Cubs as they swept the Braves in the three game series.  It will be interesting to see how they handle the D.H. situation up in Toronto this weekend as they take on the Blue Jays in a three game series.

How do you think the Cubs will do this weekend against the Blue Jays?

Carlos Zambrano was doing a little bit of everything on Monday night as the Chicago Cubs defeated teh San Diego Padres by the score of 7-6.  Big Z only threw five innings to get his eighth win of the season but he also had three hits including a triple and one rbi.  It was the Cubs eighth straigh win as well.

Things did get a little shaky for the Cubs bullpen in the ninth inning when Carlos Marmol was pitching in the ninth inning.  Marmol gave up a three run home run to Adrian Gonzalez that brought the Padres within one run.  Lou Piniella then brought in Kerry Wood who got ex-cub Michael Barrett to fly out to deep left field to end the game.  Wood ended up getting the save which was his 15th of the season.

Jim Edmonds went back to San Diego and had a pretty good night at the plate for the Cubs.  He doubled twice and had two rbi against his former team that released him earlier this season.  I could see the Padres fans all thinking “Why didn’t he hit like that when he was here?” lol.

Ryan Theriot also went 3-5 with a rbi while Aramis Ramirez 2-5.  Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome had one rbi each as well for the Cubs.

The Cubs will go for their ninth straight win on Tuesday night when they play the second game of their West coast road trip.  If the Cubs can do well on this West coast swing, I think they are going to have a great month of June and really improve on their record.

What do you think Cubs fans?  Are the Cubbies going to have a great month of June and go up six or seven games in the division?

Ok yeah, the Cubs offense sucked up until the ninth inning, but what an exciting win for the Cubs as they were able to come back and tie the game in the ninth, and then go on to win in the tenth inning.  Good teams find ways to win, and that is exactly what the Cubs did against the Dodgers in their 2-1 victory on Wednesday night.

In the ninth inning you could tell that Dodgers closer Takashi Saito was having control issues right away as he walked Ryan Theriot to lead off the inning.  It was Saito’s first action in a week and he clearly need some work in between starts.  The Cubs were able to get the bases loaded and then Geovany Soto hit a sacrafice fly to right field to tie the game.

Onto the tenth inning when Mike Fontenot lhit double to the left center gap with one out in the inning.  Alfonso Soriano then stepped up and delivered the game winning hit as he his a curve ball to left field that scored Fontenot from second.  Way to step up like the player you really are Soriano.

Carlos Zambrano was a bit wild tonight as he did walk four batters but give him some credit for lasting eight innings and keeping the Cubs in the game.  Jose Ascanio continues to impress be as he pitched another scoreless inning.  Bob Howry pitched the tenth inning and ended up picking up the win for the Cubs.

The Cubs continue to play great baseball at Wrigley Field and hopefully they will continue doing it as the Colorado Rockies are coming into town for a four game series.

The Chicago Cubs took advantage of a huge San Diego Padres error as they scored six runs in the fifth inning to break open the game on Monday night.  The Cubs weren’t done with done however as they scored another five runs in the sixth inning as they went on their way to beat the Padres 12-3.

Alfonso Soriano hit a two run home run while Geovany Soto and Mark DeRosa also finished the game with two rbi.  Derrek Lee, Reed Johnson, Kosuke Fukudome, and Aramis Ramirez all finished the game with one rbi as well.  We can’t forget about big Carlos Zambrano either as he went 2-4 including a double off the right-center wall.

Zambrano threw seven innings to improve his record to 6-1 on the season.  Zambrano could have probably went longer in the game but with the Cubs up that much, the Cubs decided to let Scott Eyre and Bob Howry finish out the game,  Eyre had to be relieved after only getting two outs though so hopefully he will pitch better next time he is called upon.  Howry recorded the final four outs in the game.

With the win the Cubs are now up a game in the division as the St. Louis Cardinals lost up in Milwaukee.  The Cubs will try to make it a 5-0 current homestand as they face off against the Padres again tomorrow night with Jason Marquis getting the start.

How will Marquis do?  Will this be his last start if he struggles once again?

Carlos Zambrano pitched great on Tuesday night as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cincinnati Reds 3-0.  Zamrbano improved to 5-1 on the season as he tossed eight innings and only allowed three hits in the game.  Zambrano was in trouble a couple of times but was calm and quickly worked his way out of the jams.  It was nice to see that the Reds were up there first pitch hitting quite a bit, it allowed Big Z to last longer in the game as his pitch count was getting up there.

On the 10th anniversary of Kerry Wood striking out 20 batters, he earned his fifth save of the season.  Talk about a career turn around from starter to closer for Wood.

Ronny Cedeno had a two run single in the fourth inning for the Cubs and Aramis Ramirez had a RBI single in the first inning.  It was great to see Ramirez back in the lineup after sitting out with a swollen wrist the last few games.

Kosuke Fukudome continues to struggle on the road however.  Fukudome went 0-3 on Tuesday night.  I wonder if this slump will continue for Fukudome as he is still trying to learn pitchers in the league. What do you think Cubs fans?

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