The Chicago White Sox got the best of the Chicago Cubs in their crosstown showdown on Friday afternoon.  Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster got rocked right from the beginning of the game as he gave up eight runs in only 2 1/3 innings of action.  It was not the start that Dempster and the Cubs were hoping for.

The White Sox scored seven runs in the third inning alone.  Nick Swisher hit a grand slam off Dempster for the big hit for the Sox.  Jon Lieber tossed 3 1/3 innings of relief and he gave up four hits and one run.  Michael Wuertz also gave up a run in relief.  Neal Cotts was the only reliever not to give up a run and he pitched 1 1/3 innings.

On the offensive side of the plate, Geovany Soto, Jim Edmonds, and Mike Fontenot all hit solo home runs.  Too bad there wasn’t some runners on base when the home runs were hit.  Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez both went 0-4 and had a dissapointing game.

The Cubs have now lost four straight road games, and six of their last ten games.  Sean Gallagher will take the mound on Saturday for the Cubs as they try to get back on the winning track.

You are probably feeling like I am right now after watching that Cubs-Orioles game.  Can we just forget that the game even happened? The Cubs should I say Jason Marquis were rocked by the Orioles as they lost 11-4.  Marquis was hammered early and often as he only lasted four innings after giving up seven runs.

It was just Marquis however, three Cubs relievers gave up runs as they pitched in relief of Marquis.  Jon Lieber and Michael Wuertz both gave up one run while Scott Eyre gave up two runs.  I sure hope that todays game was just a one game fluke because they pitched badly.

Eric Patterson led the Cubs with two rbi at the plate.  Patterson has really been swinging the bat well since being called up.  Henry Blanco and Daryle Ward both had rbi’s as well for the Cubs.  Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot both finished the game with two hits.

Hopefully the players will go enjoy a nice meal with their families this evening and then get ready to play the White Sox Friday afternoon down on the south side.

The Chicago Cubs got right back in the win column on Wednesday night as they defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 7-4.  The Cubs jumped out to a 6-2 lead after the second inning and never looked back.  The wind was blowing out but the Cubs didn’t take advantage of it with any moster home runs like the Orioles did.

Ted Lilly picked up the victory even though he didn’t pitch that great.  I will give Lilly credit as he battled all seven innings that he pitched.  Lilly gave up two two-run home runs to Jay Payton who has always hit Lilly hard.  Lilly is now 8-5 on the season and has been pitching well enough to get wins and that is all we can ask for out of the crafty left hander.

Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood were lights out in the eighth and ninth innings.  They struck out the final five batters of the game.  Wood fanned all three batters he seen with swinging strike outs to close out the game.  Wood now has 20 saves on the season.

Geovany Soto had a good game at the plate for the Cubs as he led the team with three rbi.  Soto had a two run single in the first inning and then a rbi single in the second inning.  Jim Edmonds stayed hot as he had a solo home run and then another rbi on a groundout.  Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa both had a rbi in the game as well.

It was a weird lineup for the Cubs as it was changed around a couple of times before the game started.  Kosuke Fukudome was scratched due to a calf strain so Mark DeRosa moved around on the scorecard and finally settled in right field.  Eric Patterson started in left field and led of while Mike Fontenot got the start at second base.  Fukudome is day-to-day and I wouldn’t be suprised if he takes off Thursday’s game as well.

Well it was another win for the Cubs so all we can say is Go Cubs Go!

The Cubs seem unbeatable at home. Victories over the cross town White Sox finished off the 3 game sweep and marked the Cubs 14th straight home win. Saturday’s game was all about the 4th inning. The Cubs got 9 runs to turn a 4-1 defecit into a 10-4 lead. Jim Edmonds was the front end of a back to back homerun coupling with Mike Fontenot and then the back end of one with Aramis Ramirez later in the 4th. Jason Marquis didn’t pitch great, but the offense got him the win. Jose Contreras picked up the loss and Kerry Wood nailed down the save in the 11-7 victory.

Sunday night was all about Aramis Ramirez once again. He went 2-4 with a solo homerun and an RBI double. Eric Patterson also hit his first major league homerun, a 2 run blast in the 5th. Derrek Lee added a couple of RBI as Ryan Dempster went 8 strong for his 9th straight home victory in a 7-1 win. Next up for the Cubs, a 3 game set at Wrigley with the Baltimore Orioles, starting Tuesday night.

What a sour way to lose on Thursday night as Carlos Marmol and Scott Eyre pitched terribly in the seventh inning and the Chicago Cubs lost 8-3.  Yeah, the Cubs were ahead 3-1 heading in to the bottom of the seventh but two walks and two hit batters for Marmol led to Scott Eyre giving up a grand slam, triple, double, and sac fly before the inning was over.

It sucks to see both of them throw the ball so bad.  Was it because Marmol hadn’t been used for four days?  Was it just one of those nights where the Cubs weren’t meant to win?  Who knows but it sure sucked seeing them pitch like that and not be able to hold down the lead so Sean Gallagher could win.  Gallagher tossed six innings of four hit and one run baseball.  Great job by Gallagher, hopefully next time he will be able to get the win.

Kosuke Fukudome, Ryan Theriot, and Mike Fontenot all had a rbi for the Cubs.  Derrek Lee went 3-4 but struck out with runners in scoring position one time.  The Cubs really struggled at the plate in this series with the Rays.  Hopefully they can bounce back out of it as they taked on the White Sox Friday afternoon.

And what is up with the Cubs playing a night game in Tampa and then having to fly all the way back to Chicago and play an afternoon game against their rivals?  Shouldn’t the Cubs and Rays been playing in the afternoon so the Cubs would have had more time to get back to Chicago?  Talk about some weird scheduling.

Well we will be back this afternoon to blog about the Cubs and White Sox game.  I hope we can kick some white sox ass!

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Well I’m sure all the Cubs fans out there have heard that Alfonso Soriano was hit by a pitch in last nights game against the Atlanta Braves and will be out the disabled list for a while.  Soriano broke a finger on his left hand, and then finger will be in a splint for the next three weeks atleast.  Expect Soriano to be out until around August.

So what will the Cubs do now?  Start Mark DeRosa in left field and give Mike Fontenot that majority of the starts at second base?  What about giving Ronny Cedeno some time at second base?  Micah Hoffpauir looks to be the guy that will get called up to take Soriano’s spot on the roster and he can see some time at left field as well as first base and DH in the upcoming interleage matchups.

Another name to look out for would be Eric Patterson.  We could see Patterson being called up along with Hoffpauir and a reliver sent back down to the minor leagues as the Cubs will need an extra batagainst the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend.

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.

Wahoo, those last three innings of the game was pretty exciting as the Chicago Cubs scored three runs in the seventh inning and then held on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1.  The Cubs have now won two games in a row and improved their record to 31-21 on the season.

It sure was great watching Sean Gallagher pitch a good game.  Gallagher pitched seven innings and only allowed four hits and one run.  Great outing for Gallagher who has to stay in the rotation for atleast two more games in my opinion.  Hell, let him stay in the rotation for good.

Carlos Marmol worked out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth inning without giving up a run, and then Kerry Wood shut down the Dodgers in the ninth to pick up his 12th save of the season.  I still worry that the Cubs are using Marmol a little bit too much.

Mike Fontenot, Aramis Ramirez, and Kosuke Fukudome all had one rbi in the game.  Had the Cubs got some bunts down that they messed up on, it probably would have been a 5-1 or 6-1 game in my opinion.  Tomorrow, they are going to be getting some practice bunting the ball lol.

The Cubs and Dodgers will play again on Wednesday night as the Cubs go for the three game sweep.  Carlos Zambrano will take the mound for the Cubs as he tries to improve his record to 8-1 on the season.

GO CUBS GO!

That was about one of the most frustrating games I have watched in a long time.   The Cubs lost to the Reds 5-3 as the Reds broke their five game losing streak and the Cubs continue to play bad baseball.  Two errors really hurt the Cubs as the Reds scored four unearned runs in the game.  Mark DeRosa and Mike Fontenot both extended innings where the Reds scored after they commited big errors.

The Cubs had their chance to atleast tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, but with the bases loaded for some reason Fontenot tried scoring from third base on a ball that got away from Paul Bako and was called out at home.  Yeah, replays showed that Fontenot was safe, but he shouldn’t have even tried scoring on that play because his run really didn’t matter.  Ryan Theriot walked right after that to load the bases for Derrek Lee but he failed to get a base hit as he grounded out to first to end the game.

Geovany Soto, Derosa, and Theriot all had a RBI each.  Soto connected on a solo home run in the second inning as he continues to swing a good bat.  Soto finished the game 3-3 with a walk.

Ryan Dempster took the loss for the Cubs.  Dempster is now 4-1 on the season after losing the game tonight.  Dempster allowed five runs to score but only one of those runs were earned.  The two errors extended innings and Dempster wasn’t able to pick up his teammates.

Carlos Zambrano will take the mound tomorrow night for the Cubs as they will try to get back on track against the Reds.  The Reds will send Aaron Harang to the mount so the Cubs will have their work cut out for them once again.

Ted Lilly threw seven innings and recorded his 1000th strikeout on Saturday as the Chicago Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 9-3.  Lilly had his pitches working for him finally as he recorded his second win of the season and is now 2-4 on the season.  Lilly also had his second career extra base hit with a double.

The Cubs only scored in two innings but they used a six spot in the fourth inning and then three more runs in the seventh inning to blow the game open.  Mike Fontenot had a three run home run while Geovany Soto had a two run double in the fourth inning.  Kosuke Fukudome had a pair of doubles among his three hits and drove in two runs as well.

The Cubs will try to win the series as the two teams play on ESPN Sunday night.  It will be Jason Marquis vs former Cubs pitcher Todd Wellemeyer.

Also before the game Rich Hill was sent down to Triple-A Iowa and Sean Gallagher was called up.   Early reports are staying that Jon Leiber will take Hill’s spot in the rotation, and that Gallagher will be pitching out of the bullpen.  Hill will stay in the minors until he regains his control and can last more then a couple innings in a game.