The NLDS didnt’ get off to the start that Cubs fans were hoping for as the Cubs lost to the Dodgers on Wednesday night by the score of 7-2. If you are like me, you are thinking back to last year against the Diamondbacks when the Cubs were swept in the first round. I’m trying to stay positive but I just don’t know what to expect Thursday night when the two teams play game two.

Ryan Dempster was pretty bad last night no matter how you look at it. To be honest, the Dodgers should have probably scored ten runs off the Cubs last night as Dempster gave up seven walks and worked out of almost every jam he got into. The one jam he didnt’ get out of was in the fifth inning when he walked three batters and then James Loney hit a grand slam to put the Dodgers ahead 4-2. I have to question if Dempster should have even been in the game at that point. You have Sean Marshall up in the pen who could have came in to face the left handed hitting Loney if you needed to. Just one of those movs that you question at this point in the season.

Manny Ramirez added a solo home run off of Marshall in the seventh inning. The curveball wasn’t a bad pitch at all, Manny just golfed it out. Jason Marquis also gave up a solo home run in the game as Russell Martin took him deep in the ninth inning. Jeff Samardzija gave up a rbi single in the eighth inning as well as all four Cubs pitchers to see action were charged with atleast one run.

The Cubs offense was TERRIBLE. The only runs they scored came in the second inning when Mark DeRosa hit a two run home run off of Derrek Lowe. At that time it put the Cubs up 2-0 and things were looking good. However the Cubs wouldn’t score another run. Alfonso Soriano went 0-5, Kosuke Fukudome 0-4, Geovony Soto 0-3. There was just no production for the Cubs. Soriano was swining at everything no matter where it was as he struck out two times and left three runners on base.

If the Cubs want to win game two of the series they are going to have to swing the bats better then they did in game one. You have to get some production of Soriano at the top of the order. I don’t like Fukudome in the number two spot and hopefully he will be on the bench for game two. Lee needs to hit for power and not ground into double plays as well.

Carlos Zambrano will be taking the mound for the Cubs on Thursday night and who knows what we will get out of him. Hopefuly he will be calmed down and not get into early trouble where his emotions get the best of him. This is pretty much a must win for the Cubs.

What are everyone’s thoughts on game two? Will Zambrano step up and get the job done?

One thing is for sure for the Chicago Cubs in the 2010 season. Lou Piniella will still be the Cubs manager after the Cubs management picked up his option for the season. Piniella signed a three-year deal with an option year in October 2006 and has led the Cubs to the National League Central title in his two seasons.

The decision on the agreement got started around 10 days ago Cubs chairman Crane Kenney said. Owner Sam Zell agreed to the decision without any problems and that was all that was needed to make it happen.

Now with less than 24 hours before the Cubs and Dodgers kick off the NLDS, Piniella and the rest of the coaches are very busy as they figure out the roster for the series. When the news is released, we will have it right here at ChicagoCubsBlog.Net!

It’s a brand new season for the Chicago Cubs as they now have a 0-0 record. The Cubs will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series which will start off on Wednesday at 5:30 CT. The first two games of the best of five series will be played in Chicago and then game three will be played out in Los Angeles. If necessary, game four will be in L.A. while game five would be back in Chicago.

Even though the Cubs will mostly have a right handed lineup against the Dodgers pitching staff, I really like their chances. The Cubs can play small ball or hit for power depending on how the game is going. If Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano hit the ball in this short series, then I expect the Cubs to win the series three games to one. However, if Lee continues to struggle and ground into a lot of double plays and Soriano can’t get on base, it will make things a lot harder for the Cubs to advance.

You have to give the Cubs pitching the nod when you compare them to the Dodgers as well. The Dodgers will be sending Derrek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda to the mound as their starting pitchers for the first three games. The Cubs will counter back with Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, and Rich Harden. Ted Lilly will be used in game four if needed. I love the fact that we have Dempster going in game one as he been awesome at Wrigley Field.

One thing that the Cubs cannot do is let Manny Ramirez beat them. I don’t care if they intentionally walk him everytime, you cannot let him beat you. It will be interesting to see how the Cubs bullpen throws as well as they struggled in the later part of the season. I do not want to see Bob Howry with the ball in a crucial situation that is for sure. Hopefully we can see our starters throw seven or eight innings and then close the door with Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood.

Game 1 - Ryan Dempster / Derrek Lowe - October 1st, 5:30 CST
Game 2 - Carlos Zambrano / Chad Billingsley - October 2nd, 8:30 CST
Game 3 - Rich Harden / Hiroki Kuroda - October 4th, 9:00 CST

I say that Cubs win the series 3-1.  What do you all think? Leave us a comment and let us know your prediction!

Unlike on Wednesday night, the Mets scored in the final three innings on Thursday night as they beat the Cubs 7-6. The cubs out hit the Mets 11-10 but it was the Mets that were able to rally in the end and pull out the one run victory.

Kevin Hart gave up a infield single to Carlos Beltran in the bottom of the ninth and took the loss. Hart is now 2-2 on the year. Bob Howry struggled once again as he gave up two hits in the eighth inning. Howry got the blown save but the runs two runs in the inning where charged to Neal Cotts. Chad Gaudin also gave up a run in relief of starting pitcher Rich Harden.

Harden pitched six innings and only allowed two hits and three runs. Harden did give up four walks while striking out five. It was an ok for start for Harden but he needs to cut down on the walks. He can’t walk that many batters in the playoffs that is for sure.

Five of the six Cubs rbi’s came off the bat of Micah Hoffpauir. Hoffpauir hit two home runs and also had a rbi single in the game. He is really trying to work his way onto the playoff roster. Casey McGehee also had a rbi single in the game for the Cubs.

The Cubs will now travel to Milwaukee for the final series of the regular season. Ryan Dempster will take the mound for the Cubs and is expected to throw between 75 and 80. Earlier in the day, Lou announced that Dempster would be the game one starter for the NLDS.

I will try to have updates through the weekend but I’m unsure if I will have a internet connection as I will be out of town attending a college football game. I hope to be able to update so keep checking back!

The Cubs and Mets played in a sloppy game Wednesday night but the good news is that the Cubs came out on top with a 9-6 win in ten innings. Derrek Lee hit the game winning hit in a bloop single to score Ryan Theriot and then Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run home run to extend the lead to three after the scoring was done in the 10th inning.

It was a back and forth game all night long. Carlos Zambrano gave up a grand slam to Carlos Delgado as he only lasted 4 2/3 innings. Zambrano walked four while only striking out two. I thought he was going to have a good game as he had a great first inning but then he ran into trouble in the third inning.

Jeff Samardzija also was wild in the eighth inning as gave up two hits and two walks as the Mets scored one run off of him. I do have to give credit to the Cubs bullpen however even though they got themselves into jams, they were able to work their way out of them and not allow a run to score. Boby Howry is one example of getting out of a jam. He gave up a lead of triple in the ninth inning, but then got out of the inning as the Mets left the bases loaded. The mets were just that bad tonight and the Cubs were lucky to come away with the win in my opinion.

Howry ended up with the win while Kerry Wood got the save which was his 34th of the season.

Mark DeRosa had three rbi including a solo home run before he left the game in the fifth inning with a left calf strain. I’d expect to see DeRosa take a couple days off just as a precaution. Reed Johnson and Alfonso Soriano both had rbi’s in the game as well as it was a good night at the plate for the Cubs.

The Cubs will try to take three out of four games against the Mets as they play once again on Thursday. Right now I like the Cubs chances as the Mets are struggling and just don’t seem to have any confidence. What do you think?

The Cubs as a team sure had their problems with the New York Mets on Tuesday night as they lost by the score of 6-2. Sure the cubs werent’ using their normal roster, but I till expected a little better outcome against Santana and the Mets.

The game was tied at 2-2 heading in the bottom of the sixth inning but that is when the wheels came off the bus for the Cubs. Chad Gaudin only got one batter out and gave up four hits and four runs. Gaudin was terrible on the mound and took the loss to fallto 4-2 on the year

Cubs starter Sean Marshall lasted just five innings even though he only gave up two runs on four hits. He did strike out seven batters and only walked two so it wasn’t that bad of a start overall for Marshall.

Kosuke Fukudome had a rbi double and Reed Johnson a rbi single against Santana. Johnson once again hit Santana good just like he has his entire career however the rest of the team struggled at the plate. As a team they only walked twice and struck out ten times. That was not what we are used to seeing out of this year cubs offense.

The cubs will now send Carlos Zambrano to the mound on Wednesday night against the Mets. I hope Big Z only throws five or six innings to keep fresh. Just get out there and stay competitive but do not jack up the pitch count etc.

Sorry about the lack of updates the past few days. We were busy moving the site to a new and improved server to handle some things we have planned for the future.

While we were not able to update, the Cubs won their last two games and now have a season record of 95-60. They are currently up by 10.5 games in the division over the Milwaukee Brewers and are closing in on home field advantage through the National League playoffs.

Lou is giving a few starters days off here and there for some rest but said that he will still field a competitive team because it would not be fare to the remaining teams in the playoffs if he did not put out a good lineup each day. I hope Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden get a few extra days off and only throw 3-4 innings when they do make their start just so they can stay fresh for the NLDS.

Speaking of the NLDS, how many of were able to score ticket today through the Cubs lottery? I was lucky enough to get selected and picked up two tickets for game 1. It does suck that not very many people got selected and they will now be forced to order through stubhub. What we like to tell people is check StubHub, but also check out the tickets that are available at places like Online Seats, Ticket Specialists and Vivid Seats.

I plan on having an update this evening after the Cubs and Mets game is over. The Cubs will be looking to take game two of the series against the Braves.

All that really needs to be said is that the Chicago Cubs are the 2008 National League Champions! A 5-4 victory for the Cubs over the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon clinched the division for the Cubs.

Expect the Cubs to rest some players on Sunday atleast and then get back at things to go for home field advantage. A lot of youngsters will be getting some playing time that is for sure however.

If you are wondering about National League Division shirts, don’t forget about one of our sponsors. You can can get the shirts, hats, and everything else from http://www.cubworld.com

Wow, it was a totally different Carlos Zambrano on Friday then we seen when he threw his no-hitter in Milwaukee. Zambrano was rocked by the St. Louis Cardinals as the Cardinals blew out the Cubs 12-6.  Now Cubs fans will be hoping for a Brewers lose Friday night so they can drop that magic number down to 1.

Zambrano gave up six hits, eight runs, and one grand slam in only 1 2/3 innings. I’m not sure what the problem was with Z, but he was terrible no matter what way you can look at it. It doesn’t concern me however because a pitcher will have a bad start here and there. I just hope it wasn’t anything in his shoulder that was causing the problem.

In relief of Zambrano, Angel Guzman was charged with three runs while Kevin Hart was charged with one run. The Cubs bullpen didn’t throw the ball that badly besides Guzman and Hart.

The Cubs reserves got a lot of action in th game as Lou pulled most of the startes half way through the game. Casey McGehee led the team with two rbi’s even though he didn’t even have a hit. Felix Pie, Daryle Ward, and Kosuke Fukudome all had one rbi each as well.

The Cubs can clinch on Saturday if they beat the Cardinals tomorrow afternoon and the Brewers lose either Friday or Saturday. Or if the Brewers lose both nights, the Cubs will clinch as well. I would rather just have the Cubs take care of business and clinch by winning some games. So will the Cubs do it this weekend?

Cubs fans, the magic number is down to 2! Geovany Soto crushed a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth out to tie the game and then Derrek Lee came up with a huge rbi single in the bottom of the 12 inning as the Cubs beat the Brewers 7-6.

Some people will say it is a lucky win as Braun should have caught a line drive in the ninth inning. Good teams find ways to win and take advantage of other teams mistakes however. Right now the Cubs will take any win they can get, no matter how they get it!

Soto, who with a doubt should be the National League MVP came up huge with that three-run home run. He absolutely hammered a first pitch fastball to left field to tie the game at 6-6. Aramis Ramirez and Jim Edmonds also hit solo home runs for the Cubs.

I’ll give some props to Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood. Marmol tossed a scoreless tenth inning while Wood tossed two scoreless innings. Wood did run into some trouble with two runners on with no ots in the 12th inning, however he was able to work out of the jam and give the Cubs a chance to win it in the bottom of the inning. That is exactly what happened as Wood picked up the win and is now 5-4.

Starting pitcher Rich Harden only gave up one hit and one run over five innings of action. Harden’s pitch count was over 100 pretty fast as he walked six and struck out seven. The bullpen wasn’t that good after Harden left however as Jeff Samardzija gave up two runs and Neal Cotts walked in a run with the bases loaded. Marmol and Wood sure made the bullpen’s stats look a lot better then they probably should have been.

So now the Cubs have the St. Louis Cardinals coming into town for a series this weekend. I expect the Cubs to have no problems clinching the division this weekend. Hopefully it will happen on Friday night, and if not then on Saturday. It’s a good time to be a Cubs fan!