The Chicago Cubs finished up a day - night double header against the Atlanta Braves with a 8-0 win in the night cap.  Earlier in the day the Cubs crushed the Braves 10-2.  It was the first time since 1992 where the Cubs swept both games of a double header.  Chicago now has won seven straight road games for the first time since June 12-22, 2004, and is 26 games over .500 at 73-47 for the first time since the team finished the 1984 season 31 games up at 96-65.  The Cubs are also up 3.5 games on the Brewers in the division.

Rich Harden picked up his second win with the Cubs and is now 2-1 as he tossed five innings and only allowed two hits.  Harden did work out of a couple of jams and his pitch count was getting up around 90 so he was taken out after five innings.  The Cubs are being very cautious with Harden and if he can give them five or six innings everytime out there they will be happy with that.  Chad Gaudin, Sean Marshall, Kerry Wood, and Neal Cotts all threw one inning of relief out of the bullpen.  Cotts was the only reliever to give up a hit as the entire pitching staff limited the Braves to only three hits.

Aramis Ramirez and Kosuke Fukudome led the team with two rbi’s each.  Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Jim Edmonds, and Mike Fontenot all chipped in with one rbi as well.  It was a big combined effort at the plate as the Cubs plated eight runs in the game.  The bats jumped all over the Braves pitchings from the get go and put a lot of pressure on the Braves bullpen.  I look for the bats to continue scoring runs and the Cubs to win again on Thursday night.

Now can we just start seeing the Brewers lose some games!?

The Cubs got things started off nicely with a 10-2 victory in the first game of two against the Atlanta Braves.  After last nights game was rained out, the Cubs came out of the gates and swung the bats very good while knocking out the Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton out of the game after only 2 1/3 innings.  The Braves bullpen had to throw a lot of pitches so I really like the teams chances of sweeping the double header.

Geovany Soto and Jim Edmonds had a great game at the plate.  Soto had a two run double and a two run home run to finish the game 3-4 with four rbi.  Edmonds had a two run home run and a rbi double to finish with three rbi.  Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot, and Mark Derosa all added one rbi each as well.

Jason Marquis threw a lot of pitches as he worked out of multiple jams but lasted 5 1/3 innings to pick up the win.  Marquis is now 8-7 on the year with a 4.67 era.  Neal Cotts finished up the sixth inning after Marquis exited the game and then Jeff Samardzija pitched the seventh and eighth innings.  Bob Howry finished things up with a scoreless inning in the ninth.

The Cubs should be setup nicely for the second game of the double header as Rich Harden will start the game.  The Cubs still have Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol in the bullpen as well.  Hopefully we see a double header sweep of the Braves and then a Padres win over the Brewers!

GO CUBS!!

What a way to kick off an exciting weekend of baseball between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals!  The Cubs and Cards played extra innings and it was the Cubs coming out on top with a 3-2 victory in 11 innings on Friday afternoon.  Great pitching and timely hitting for the Cubs was what pushed them over the top.

Jim Edmonds, playing against his former team had two solo home runs to lead the Cubs with two rbi.  Edmonds went deep in the second and seventh innings of the game.  Without Jimmy, the Cubs would have been shutout and lost the game.  Great game for Edmonds!

The game winning run in the 11th inning came off the bat of Henry Blanco who was hitting with zero outs and the bases loaded.  Blanco signled to left field and Derrek Lee scored the winning run.  Lee started the inning off with a walk and then moved to third base on a single by Aramis Ramirez.  Cardinals pitcher Ryan Franklin then walked Kosuke Fukudome to load the bases before Blanco’s game winning hit.

On the mound it was Bob Howry picking up the win to improve his record to  5-4.  Howry looked pretty good in his one inning of action as he threw a lot more breaking balls early in the count then he has been.  Great to see Howry out there throwing the ball like he is capable of.

Jeff Samardzija allowed one hit in two innings as he did a great job as well.  Jeff has really been throwing the ball well and Lou has a lot of confidence in him right now.  Ted Lilly pitched 7 1/3 innings before being taken out in the eighth inning for Carlos Marmol.  Marmol finished up the eighth inning by recording the final two outs.

The Cubs and Cards will battle it out Saturday afternoon in the second game of the series.  The game will be shown on FOX so make sure you tune if you can’t make it to the game. I’ll be sitting out in the bleachers with my wife and I can’t wait!

The Chicago Cubs used a eight run second inning as they finished off the Houston Astros with a 11-4 victory on Wednesday afternoon.  Alfonso Soriano had a three run shot in the inning and Mark DeRosa smashed a grand slam in the second inning as well.  Kosuke Fukudome, Geovany Soto, and Jason Marquis also added rbi’s in the game as the Cubs offense was on fire.

Marquis finally earned another victory and is now 7-7 on the season.  Marquis gave up six hits and four runs over 6 1/3 innings.  Wasn’t that great of a start but it was good enough to get the job done thanks to the offense.  Sean Marshall tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings while Jeff Samardzija tossed the final inning without any problems.

Now the team will be on Thursday before they start off a huge weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals.  I’ll be at games on Saturday and Sunday and cannot wait!

It was an up and down game for the Cubs on Tuesday afternoon as they blew a 6-1 lead and then came back to defeat the Houston Astros 11-7.  Alfonso Soriano provided the big blast that broke the tie in the seventh inning when he hit a three run home run.  Soriano’s 20th homer highlighted a five-run burst and sent the NL Central-leading Cubs to their eighth win in 10 games.

Starting pitcher Rich Harden didn’t have his best game as he gave up eight hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings.  Bob Howry once again gave up runs as he was charged with two runs in 1 1/3 innings.  It was nice to see Kerry Wood back in action as he pitched a scoreless eighth inning before Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless ninth inning.  To make room on the roster for Wood, the Cubs designated Scott Eyre for assignment.

General manager Jim Hendry had been trying to trade Eyre for quite a while but was unable to get anything done.  The team designated him instead of sending Neal Cotts or Sean Marshall down.

What does everyone think about the Eyre?

Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend as I was pretty busy and didn’t have a chance to watch the games.  I’m now in the great city of Chicago for the week and will be attending a couple of games this weekend.  Should have regular updates all week long.

Wow, what a crazy night at Wrigley Field and the city itself last night as two huge storms rolled through causing delays and fans wondering what they should do.  The lightning was crazy and there were tornado warnings all around the city.  I was suprised they didn’t call the game during the first delay to be honest.

In the end however it was the Astros on top of the Cubs 2-0 when the game was called in the bottom of the eighth inning.  Ryan Dempster took the lose for the Cubs and is now 12-5 on the year.  He gave up single runs in the first and fourth innings of the game.

One thing I noticed in the game was that the hitters were not as patient as they usually are.  They struckout seven times while only walking once in the game.  Hopefully they will come out and swing the bats better Tuesday afternoon.

It will be a short turnaround for the players and fans as the teams will play an afternoon game today.  Rich Harden will take the mound for the Cubs.

All good things had to come to an end and that is exactly what happened on Friday afternoon for the Chicago Cubs.  The Cubs offense coudln’t do anything and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cubs 3-0.  That was not the way the team wanted to start a weekend series with the Pirates.  Now we have to sit back and hope that the Brewers and Cardinals both lose tonight to stay five games up in the division.

Jason Marquis took the loss for the Cubs as he gave up all three runs.  Jason Michaels and Jack Wilson both hit rbi singles in the second inning and then Michaels added a solo home run in the sixth inning.  It didn’t matter how many runs Marquis gave up on the day however because the offense had all sorts of problems.

The Cubs offense left 15 runners on base while striking out four times.  Once again the double play ball really hurt them in the game.  Geovony Soto had a bad day at the plate as he went 0-4 and left five runners on base.

Enjoy your evening everyone and lets talk some Cubs baseball on Saturday afternoon as the Cubs try to even up the series with the Pirates.

Wow!  The Chicago Cubs beat up on the Milwaukee Brewers once again and completed a four game sweep of the Brewers up in Milwaukee.  The Cubs got great pitching from Rich Harden and great hitting in the game as they won 11-4.  The Cubs are now five games up on the Brewers in the division!

Harden threw seven innings to get his first win with the Cubs.  Harden allowed six hits and one run while striking out nine batters.  His only mistake was to Prince Fielder who hit a solo home run in the seventh inning.  Other then that one mistake, Harden was wheeling and dealing all game long.  Bob Howry tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth inning and then Scott Eyre was charged with three runs in the ninth inning.  Yeah you read that right, Howry threw a scoreless inning!  Eyre continues to struggle as he just isn’t getting used that much anymore.  He needs to get into a good rythum but I don’t think Lou has very much confidence in him right now.

The offense was led by Jim Edmonds who had two home runs and five rbi.  Edmonds first hit a solo home run in the third inning, and then added a grand slam in the fourth inning.  Kosuke Fukudome added a two run home run while Alfonso Soriano also had a solo shot.  Mike Fontenot had two rbi in a pitch hitters role and Aramis Ramirez added a rbi as well.

Overall it was a great series for the Cubs as they pretty much crushed the brew crew in every game.  The Cubs will now welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates into town for a afternoon game on Friday.  Hopefully the Cubs keep playing good and we can get another sweep and extend the lead in the division!

GO CUBS GO!

Yeah baby!  The Cubs beat down the Brewers once again and are now four games up on the brew crew in the division.  It was a 7-2 beating of the Brewers on Wednesday night for the Cubs that have them in position to sweep on Thursday.  And yeah, I like their chances to complete the sweep with Rich Harden taking the mound.

The Cubs got a great pitching performance from Ryan Dempster who threw seven innings and only allowed five hits and only one run.  Dempster is now 12-4 on the year and has been throwing the ball very well.  Chad Gaudin pitched a scoreless eighth inning and then Neal Cotts pitched the ninth and gave up a solo home run to Prince Fielder.  The run didn’t mean anything however as the Cubs had a huge lead.

Alfonso Soriano was a monster at the plate for the Cubs as he was on base five times and collected three singles in the game.  Ryan Theriot had a great game as well as he finished 3-3 with three rbi.  Derrek Lee, Reed Johnson, and Mark Derosa all had one rbi each in the game as well.

Now lets root for another Cubs victory on Thursday afternoon as Rich Harden takes the mound.  Expect Sean Marshall to come into the game if Harden has any troubles.

GO CUBS GO!

It was another great game for the Cubs offense as they hammered Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Ben Sheets and went on to beat the Brew Crew by the score of 7-1.  The Cubs offense had 15 hits and scored seven runs while the Brewers struggled against Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano and did not score a run until the ninth inning.

Every Cubs batter had atleast one hit as everyone contributed on Tuesday night.  The team had seven straight hits to open the sixth inning and they blew the game open by sending ten batters to the plate and scoring five runs in the inning.

Kosuke Fukdome and Mark DeRosa led the team with two rbi each.  Aramis Ramirez went 4-5 with three doubles and also had one rbi.  Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano had the other two rbi for the team.  It was awesome to see so much production out of the lineup.  A-Ram was locked in at the plate all night long and had some great swings which was nice to see as well.

Big Z threw eight scoreless innings while striking out a season high nine batters to get the win.  Zambrano is now 12-4 on the year with a 2.80 era.  Big Z did show some emotion in the game when he popped up a sac bunt attempt and then broke the bat over his leg.  Atleast he wasn’t getting to hot headed out there on the mound.

Jeff Samardzija came in and pitched the ninth inning and gave up one run.  He was mostly throwing fastballs and just letting the Brewers hit it.  I don’t have a problem with that one run scoring because the Cubs had such a big lead and with a big lead all you can ask the pitcher to do was throw strikes and that was what he was doing.

The Cubs are now up three games on the Brewers and and four games on the Cardinals in the division.  Let’s all sit back and hopefully watch another Cubs victory over the Brewers on Wednesday night!