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.

Are you looking for Cubs tickets?  Most Cubs fans are because all the games for the rest of the season are pretty much sold out.  Don’t buy from a scalper outside the stadium, use a service like StubHub where all transactions are 100% guranteed!

First off I’d like to say sorry for not having and update after yesterday’s game.  I had to head out shortly after the exciting game and didn’t get back until the late hours.  I was able to watch most of today’s game as the Cubs lost the series finale to the Giants by the score of 4-2.   Basically the Cubs ran into Tim Lincecum who through eight strong innings to shut down the Cubs.  Ryan Dempster lost his first game of the season at Wrigley Field.

The offense could not come up with the big hit that they needed to get to get a good rally going.  They did push across a run in the 9th inning on a Geovany Soto rbi single but Daryle Ward struck out and Ryan Theriot grounded out with a runner on third.

At the end of the first half the Cubs are 19 games over .500 with a 57-38 record.  The team is also 4.5 games up on the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the division.  Every Cubs fan has to be happy with how the first half of the season has turned out.

Now lets set back and watch the All Star Game where 8 Cubs players have been selected.  Carlos Marmol was added to the roster this morning when Kerry Wood informed the league that he would not be available to pitch in the game due to a blister.

It just wasn’t a good day to be a Chicago Cubs pitcher on Thursday as all five Cubs pitchers gave up atleast home run.  The Cubs gave up a total of seven home runs and twelve runs while they lost 12-7.  The Cubs still took two out of three from the Reds, but it would have been nice to get the sweep.

Ted Lilly, Michael Wuertz, Jon Lieber, Chad Gaudin, and Neal Cotts all gave up home runs.  Lilly and Lieber both gave up two while Wuertz, Gaudin, and Cotts all gave up one each.  Bad day to be a Cubs pitcher when the wind was blowing straight out.  Gaudin and Rich Harden have to be thinking so this is what it is like to pitch at Wrigley Field during the summer.

The Cubs didn’t have a bad day at the plate as they scored seven runs, they just couldn’t keep up with the Reds.  Mike Fontenot hit a two run home run for the only long ball for the Cubs.  Ryan Theriot added a two run single while Derrek Lee had a rbi double.

The Cubs will now wait for the San Francisco Giants to fly into town as they will play a three game series this weekend.  Make sure you get out there this weekend and catch a game.  Rich Harden will making his Cubs debut on Saturday!

Get your Cubs tickets for home and away games right here! 100% guranteed transactions.

The Chicago Cubs wasted a good outing by Jason Marquis on Tuesday night as they struggled at the plate and lost to the San Francisco Giants by the score of 2-1.  Marquis tossed seven innings and only gave up four hits and two runs in the game but took the loss and is now 6-5 on the season.  The Cubs and Giants have each won one game in the four game series now.

The first run that Marquis allowed was when Fred Lewis stole home in the first inning.  The second run came in the sixth inning when Randy Winn singled in Lewis.  That was all the offense that the Giants needed in the game as the Cubs offense was pretty much dead until the late innings.

In the seventh inning I thought that Daryle Ward should have had a triple, and then scored on the Jim Edmonds fly ball to center.  Too bad Ward is too damn slow!  In the ninth inning the Cubs had a rally going as well as Derrek Lee led off the inning with a triple and scored on a Geovany Soto single.  Edmonds then flied out before Mike Fontenot reached on a infield single to put runners at first and second.  Ryan Theriot had a good at bat but ended up striking out against Brian Wilson to end the game.

This loss goes completely on the offense who only had five hits in the game.  Matt Cain dominated them as he held them to only two hits through the first eight innings of the game.  That just can’t happen when you have the offense that the Cubs do.

The Chicago White Sox returned the favor to the Chicago Cubs as they south siders pulled away late to beat the Cubs 5-1 and sweep the Cubs in the three game series.  It wasn’t how I pictured the weekend going for the Cubs, but the White Sox bullpen held up all weekend and the Cubs bullpen did not.

Sunday night we say manager Lou Piniella get thrown out of the game after arguing a check swing call that went against the Cubs in the bottom of the second inning.  Piniella rushed out of the dugout towards the first base dugout and was quickly told to stop and get back in the dugout and as he was walking back was thrown out of the game by the home play umpire.  Lou got some words in with him as well.  From what I understood during the telecast last night, both the first base and home plate umpires were called up from the minor leagues for the series.

Sean Marshall pitched pretty good but took the loss and is now 0-2 on the season.  Marshall gave up two home runs, five hits, and three runs over seven innings of action.  Jose Ascanio gave up another home run (two run shot) in the eighth inning as the Jim Thome took him deep to extend the White Sox lead by 4.

The Cubs had chances to score runs in the game but once again failed to come up with the big hit with runners in scoring position.  Only one run for this Cubs offense is pretty bad.  Ronny Cedeno provided the one rbi for the Cubs when he singled in the seventh inning and Mark DeRosa scored.  Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez went a combined 0-11 in the game.

The Cubs boarded a plane right after the game and flew out to California where they will begin a series with the San Francisco Giants on Monday night. Yay more night games on the West coast.  I really hate these late games.

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.

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!

Do you need Cubs Tickets?  Click here to buy from our partners at StubHub!

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.

Ryan Dempster tossed a complete game for the Chicago Cubs on Wedneday night as they defeated the Atlanta Braves by the score of 7-2.  The complete game by Dempster was the first complete game by a Cubs pitcher this season.  The complete game was huge because it saved the bullpen from having to pitch in the game.

The Cubs got out to a good start at Kosuke Fukudome hit a three run home run in the first inning to put the Cubs up 3-0.  The Cubs then got two runs in the second inning and two more runs in the third inning.  In the second inning, Ryan Theriot had a two run double and in the third inning both runs came on a rbi single by Jim Edmonds.

One bad thing from the game however is that Alfonso Soriano was hit a by a pitch on his left hand and the pitch actually fractured part of his fourth finger.  Soriano will more then likely be out for two to three weeks as he as to be able to squeeze his fist and fit the hand into his glove before he can make a return.  It really sucks to see Soriano get hurt as he was just starting to get into another groove and hitting the ball pretty good.

I would expect Micah Hoffpauir is already on his way to Chicago or he will be early in the morning.

So how will the Cubs do as Soriano is headed to the disable list once again?  Leave us a comment and let us know your opinion.

It didn’t take the Chicago Cubs very long to get right back on track after their nine game win streak was snapped on Wednesday night.  They jumped right back into the saddle and came away with a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.

Kosuke Fukudome got things started at the plate for the Cubs as he hit his fourth home run of the season in the second inning.  Hopefully Fukudome will start hitting the ball a little better on the road as he gets accustomed to the road travel in the country.  I should also mention that his wife and son have finally joined him which happened in San Diego.  It was their first time together since spring training.

Besides Fukudome going deep, Mark DeRosa also hit a solo home run in the fourth inning.  Ryan Theriot and Aramis Ramirez both chipped in with rbi’s of their own as well.  It would have been nice to see more runs scored in the game as they left 20 runners on base but sometimes that is just how it goes.

Things did get a little scary in the late innings however when Bob Howry gave up a solo home run to Jeff Kent which tied the game at 4-4 in the eighth inning.  Howry got lucky however as Fukudome singled in Theriot for the game winning run in the top of the ninth inning.  Kerry Wood then came in and was able to get his 17th save of the season.

Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster had some troubles once again as he pitched on the road.  Dempster only lasted 5 1/3 innings as he gave up five hits and three runs.  Kent also took Dempster deep for a solo home run in the game.

The Cubs will stay out in L.A. and play the Dodgers over the weekend.  Hopefully they can come away with atleast two out of three games if not take the remaining three games in the series.