Yay, the Cubs are back in the win column!  The Cubs avoided a three game sweep down in Arizona by beating the Diamondbacks 10-6 on Wednesday night.  The Cubs had their leadoff man Alfonso Soriano back in the lineup, Derrek Lee hit a home run, Reed Johnson hit a grand slam, and Ted Lilly won his 10th game of the year!  Yeah, all that happened in last nights game!

The Cubs blew the game wide open in the 8th inning when Geovany Soto singled in Ryan Theriot, then with the bases loaded Mark DeRosa walked.  Leo Rosales then came into the game in relief of Micah Owings and Reed Johnson welcomed Rosales with a grand slam to right center field.  It appeard that a fan might have helped the ball get over the fence but the umpires all met and kept the call as a home run.

It was nice to see Lee hit a ball in the air and over the fence as he hit a home run in the first inning.  Lee has really been struggling while hitting into a lot of double plays.  Soriano made his return and went 1-5 while picking up one rbi.  Ryan Theriot also had one rbi in the game as did Lilly.  Soriano,’s Theriot’s, and Lilly’s rbi’s all came in the 5th inning when the Cubs scored three runs.

On the mound Lilly tossed six innings to pick up his 10th win of the season.  He allowed six hits and three runs in the game.  Tony Clark hit a two run home run in the 4th inning and then Conor Jackson had a rbi single in the 5th off of him.   Neal Cotts and Carlos Marmol both threw scoreless innings out of the bullpen.  However, once again Bob Howry had to give up runs.  He pitched the eighth inning and gave up a three run home run to Chris Snyder.  Right now I don’t have a lot of trust in Howry.  No way can I trust him and put him a tie or one run game.

The Cubs will now head back to Chicago and begin a four game series with the visiting Florida Marlins on Thursday evening.  Carlos Zambrano will take the mound for the Cubs as he hopes to get back on the winning ways and pick up his 11th win of the season.

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The Chicago Cubs finished up a three game series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday with a 7-1 victory.  The Cubs took two out of three games from the Cardinals in St. Louis and extended their lead to 3.5 games over the Cardinals and Brewers.  Yeah, if Wood wouldn’t have blown the game on Saturday, the Cubs would have swept but I’ll take two out of three games on the road any time against the Cardinals.

Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, Reed Johnson, and Geovany Soto all had good games on Sunday for the Cubs.  Ramirez finished the game with three rbi, while Lee, Soto, and Mark DeRosa all had one rbi.  Eveyone at the plate did a pretty good job over the weekend and that was really nice to see.

Sean Marshall earned his first victory of the season and is now 1-2.  Marshall tossed six innings while giving up six hits and one run.  It was also awesome to see Carlos Marmol throw a scoreless inning in the eighth as he got back on track and threw some strikes.

The Cubs are now off on Monday and will pick things back up on Tuesday when they start a series with the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.  Will the Cubs stay hot in Chicago and extend their lead over the Cardinals and Brewers?

The Chicago Cubs lost 8-3 to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday as the two teams split a four game series out in San Francisco.  The Cubs were right in the game until the the seventh inning when Carlos Marmol gave up a three run home run to Rich Aurilia.  Something is wrong with Marmol like we have blogged about before.  I just hope the kid can make it to the all stat break and get a much needed rest.  He needs rest for the body and the mind I’m afraid.

Sean Gallagher had one bad inning where he gave up four runs.  He was only charged with three runs however as one of the runs scored unearned due to a Cubs error.  Gallagher is now 3-4 and could be moved to the bullpen soon.

Jose Ascanio gave up two runs while Jon Lieber gave up one run.  The Cubs pitchers just didn’t have it going on the mound.  Hopefully they weren’t thinking ahead to the big weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mark DeRosa had two rbi to lead the Cubs at the plate. DeRosa doubled in the sixth inning to score Derrek Lee and Jim Edmonds.  Lee had the Cubs first rbi in the first inning when he scored Reed Johnson.  It was nice to see Johnson make his return to the lineup as he went 1-3.

To make room for Johnson on the roster, the Cubs sent Eric Patterson back down to Triple A Iowa.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe July 4th tomorrow and we can all sit down and watch the Cubs beat the Cardinals!

The Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays played their first game against each other ever and it was the Rays taking the 1-0 series lead with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night.  The Cubs offense struggled until the late innings when they attempted a comeback but they still came up short by one run.

Reed Johnson almost tied the game in the ninth inning when he bunted with Kosuke Fukudome on third base with two outs in the inning.  Johnson laid down a very good bunt however Evan Longoria was able to bare hand the ball and make a bouncing throw to first base where Willy Aybar was able to dig it and hold on for the third out.

Earlier in the ninth inning Mark DeRosa scored on a passed ball.  DeRosa singled with one out in the ninth inning and then moved to third base on a double by pitch hitter Fukudome.  Fukudome also had a chance to score on a passed ball but he choose to stay at third base as the ball bounced to the Rays catcher pretty quickly.

Neal Cotts took the loss for the Cubs and is now 0-1 on the season.  Cotts gave up a home run to Longoria and then a rbi single to Eric Hinske in the seventh inning.  Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster pitched the first five innings for the Cubs.  Dempster gave up six hits but only one run which came on a home run.

The Cubbies will try to get back on track on Wednesday as Big Z takes the mounds.  I like the Cubs chances at evening the series at 1-1.  What do you all think?

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?

The Chicago Cubs made the Atlanta Braves pay for their two errors as the Cubs beat the Braves 10-5 Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.  The Cub used a four run eighth inning to blow the game wide open.  The big hit was a three run home run by Geovany Soto with two outs in the eighth.  Soto was even called out by the Cubs fans for a curtain call after the home run.

Derrek Lee and Reed Johnson both had two runs batted in for the Cubs as well.  Johnson played a great game at the plate and in the outfield.  Johnson made two great running catches in the gaps that saved some runs.  I really like the energy that Johnson has brought the Cubs.

Aramis Ramirez, Kosuke Fukudome, and Mark DeRosa all had one rbi in the game as well.  Ramirez had two or three great plays at third base as well.  He started the game ending double play in the ninth inning on a hard hit ball and also made a great diving stop early in the game to get an out.

Cubs starting pitcher Ted Lilly gave up three early runs in the first inning on a home run by Greg Norton but then settled down to pitch 6 2/3 innings and pick up the win.  Lilly allowed four hits and the three runs while improving his record to 6-5 on the season.  If he could just start off the game better, he would last longer into the games.

Carlos Marmol struckout his one batter in the seventh inning before Bob Howry gave up four hits and two runs in the eighth inning.  Scott Eyre got the Cubs out of the eighth after coming in to get the last out and then Jon Lieber finished things off in the ninth inning as the Cubs got the victory.

The Cubs are now 41-24 on the season as they remain 2.5 games in first place in the Central Division.  Just keep on winning baby!

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The Chicago Cubs four game win streak is no more as they were beaten by the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.  Jason Marquis gave up four runs in the fourth inning and the Padres beat the Cubs 4-3 on a rainy night at Wrigley Field.

Now comes the question once again if Marquis will make his next start.  Marquis seems to pitch a few good innings but then give up three or four runs in the next inning.  You can’t do that if you want to keep your team in the game.  Marquis has struggled pretty much all season long and he now has a 1-3 record with a 5.26 era on the season.

I would like to give some props to Michael Wuertz though.  Wuertz had a great effort tonight as he pitched the final three innings of the game and only allowed one hit.  That is a great job, and he did everything he had to do to keep the Cubs in the game.

The offense just wasn’t able to come back and score a run late in the game.  Hell, they didn’t score a run after the second inning of the game.  Alfonso Soriano got the Cubs on track with a lead off home run which was his fifth of the season.  Reed Johnson then had a two run double to deep right-center field that scored Geovany Soto and Mark DeRosa.

Look for the Cubs to have some trouble tomorrow night as well as they have to face off against Jake Peavy.  Ted Lilly will take the mound for the Cubs as they hope to start another winning streak.

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?

The Chicago Cubs got a little bit of revenge this weekend as they finished off a three game sweep of the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.  The last time the two teams played, it was the Diamondbacks sweeping the Cubs in the playoffs.

The Cubs were out of it on Sunday until the seventh inning when Reed Johnson hit a two run home run to tie the game at 4-4.  In the eighth inning, Daryle Ward came to the plate with the bases loaded and doubled to right-center field scoring two runs.  Earlier in the game Derrek Lee hit his tenth home run of the season as well.

Starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano was scratched from his start due to the wet conditions and the fact that the game started about an hour late.  Instead it was Sean Gallagher making the start.  Gallagher tossed 4 1/3 innings while he gave up five hits and four runs.

Chad Fox, Michael Wuertz, Carlos Marmol, and Kerry Wood all pitched in relief and no one gave up a hit!  The bullpen pitched awesome as Marmol picked up the win and Wood picked up the save.  Just like it should be every game, Marmol and Wood closing the game in the eighth and ninth innings!

The Cubs will now welcome in the San Diego Padres for a four game series starting Monday night.  The first three games of the series will be a night so Wrigleyville is going to be buzzing into the late hours.

Ted Lilly and the Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks as the teams played each other for the first time since the Diamondbacks swept the Cubs last postseason.  Lilly pitched great as he tossed seven innings and only allowed three hits and one run while striking out ten batters.

Most Cubs fans probably thought oh crap here we go again as Chris Young took Lilly deep for a home run in the first inning but after that Lilly setteled down and controlled the Diamondbacks hitters.

Kerry Wood picked up his sixth save as he closed the door on the Dbacks in the ninth inning.

At the plate for the Cubs, they got a run in the fifth inning on a Lilly single that scored Mark DeRosa and then Alfonso Soriano doubled to score Reed Johnson.  In the seventh inning, Derrek Lee connected for his ninth home run of the season to put the Cubs up 3-1.

Now that was a big win that the Cubs were really needing to get as they start a ten game homestand.  On Saturday, the Cubs will send Ryan Dempster to the mound against the Diamondbacks rookie stud Max Scherzer.  Hopefully we will see the Cubs pick up another win over the Diamondbacks!