The Chicago Cubs are playing some very bad baseball right now as they lost for the fifth straight time. All five of the losses have came at home as well where they usually play pretty good ball. On Wednesday night, the Houston Astros completed a three game sweep of the Cubs with a 4-0 win. It was the second time in the series that the Cubs were shutout as the offense continues to struggle.

The offense isn’t being as patient as they were earlier in the season and that is one reason why they are struggling at the plate. They are swinging at too many first pitches instead of working the count. Too many balls are being grounded out and turned into double plays which kill any rally they have going on. With the big offensive lineup that the Cubs have, you would think there would be one player that could carry the team but right now everyone is struggling at the plate. Hopefully Thursday’s offday will help out the offense.

Onto the pitching side of the game, they didn’t throw the ball that badly on Wednesday night as Ryan Dempster pitched seven innings. Dempster gave up eight hits and three runs while walking three and striking out seven. The one mistake pitch that Dempster made was in the fifth inning when Ty Wigginton hit a two run home run. The pitchers just aren’t getting the run support like they have most of the season so they are taking the losses rather then getting the wins.

To add even more frustration to the team, Carlos Zambrano didn’t go through and have his MRI done on Wednesday afternoon like he was supposed. ESPN 1000 was reporting that Zambrano had a family matter he had to attend to when the MRI was scheduled. So who knows what is going on with Z’s arm and when he will be able to pitch again.

The Cubs did remain 4.5 games up on the Milwaukee Brewers who were also swept in their three game series. It would have been really nice to have extended the lead of the Brewers with a couple of wins but sometimes that is just how it works out. Atleast the brew crew were swept by the Mets and the Cubs are still up by 4.5 games.

Let’s all enjoy this offday, maybe watch a little football and be right back at it on Friday night when the Cubs begin a weekend series with the Cincinnati Reds. Maybe going out on the road will help the team out.

It was a bad night at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night as the Cubs lost starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano after five innings and then lost the game to the Houston Astros in 11 innings. Zambrano told the head trainer that it was his arm but that was all that was said and the Cubs hope to have a report about the injury before Wednesday’s game.

As for the game iteself, Kerry Wood gave up a two run home run in the 11th inning to Geoff Blum and the Cubs lost 7-5. The Cubs hit four solo home runs in the game and added a two run double and rbi single in the game but still lost. Alfonso Soriano, Mark DeRosa, Geovany Soto, and Jim Edmonds all hit one solo blast each. Ryan Theriot had the two run double while Mike Fontenot added the rbi single.

Once again Derrek Lee had chances to put the Cubs on top in the game and as usual he grounded into a double play. Lee is really struggling at the plate and he actually showed a little bit of emotion by slamming his helmet down when grounding into the double play in the bottom of the eighth inning when the Cubs had the bases loaded with one out.

Back to Zambrano who took himself out of the game after five innings. Through five innings he had given up five hits and three runs. He walked three and struck out three others. I expect a trip to the disabled list for Big Z and Sean Marshall filling in his spot in the rotation.

This race just might come right down to the wire, but if we have to sit Zambrano for 2 weeks then so be it. I’d rather have a healthy Zambrano out there then one that is a 75% every fifth day. Let’s hope that the injury isn’t to serious and all he needs is some rest.

The Cubs are still up 4.5 games on the Brewers who also lost. Ryan Dempster will take the mound on Wednesday night as he tries to stop the Cubs four game loosing streak. The Cubs hope to salvage one game out of the series as they also seen their 11 series winning streak snapped on Tuesday night with the loss.

Stay positive Cubs fans!

Another game and another poor showing by the Cubs offense. This time it was against the Houston Astros as the Cubs were shut out 3-0. Roy Oswalt shut down the Cubs as he pitched 8 2/3 innings and held them to only four hits in the game.

The Cubs only had two hits heading into the ninth inning when they had a mini rally going. After Ryan Theriot grounded out to start the inning, Daryle Ward and Alfonso Soriano both singled to bring the tying run to the plate. However Kosuke Fukudome grounded into a fielders choice and Derrek Lee flied out to deep right field to end the game.

The offense needs to turn things around on Tuesday and score some runs. The pitching wasn’t bad at all on Monday as Jason Marquis threw six innings and gave up five hits and two runs. The third Astros run was charged to reliever Jeff Samardzija.

The only good news to come out of the day was that the Milwaukee Brewers also lost so the Cubs are still up 4.5 games in the division.

Let’s get em tomorrow.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs once again played a close ballgame but for the second straight game the Cubs came out on the losing end. They fell behind 3-0 in the first inning and were never able to battle all the way back and lost the game 5-3.

Sean Marshall was a spot starter in the game as he filled in for Carlos Zambrano who’s arm felt “heavy” and needs a couple more days of rest before he takes the mound. Marshall gave up three quick runs in the first inning as Ryan Howard had a rbi single and new cub killer Jayson Werth had a two run double. Werth also added a solo home run off Marshall in the fifth inning.

As for the Cubs offense, they scored two runs in the second inning on rbi single by Ronny Cedeno and Marshall. The Cubs attempted to rally late in the game as Henry Blanco had a rbi single to make the score 5-3, however with two runners on base, Alfonso Soriano struck out on a pitch that he shouldn’t have even swung at.

So at the end of the series, it ended about how I thought it would. The Cubs and Phillies split and now the Cubs are are up 4.5 games on the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs will now play a three game series with the Houston Astros while the Brewers will have a three game series with the New York Mets.

So how do you think the Cubs will do against the Astros? I say they take two out of three and pick up one game in the division.

The Cubs seven game winning streak came to an end on Saturday afternoon as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cubs 5-2. The Cubs had plenty of opportunities to score some runs, but the offense sputtered with runners on base and never came up with a big hit to get a rally going.

Ted Lilly took the loss on the mound and fell to 13-8 on the season. He gave up a solo home run to Jayson Werth in the fifth inning and then a two run single to Werth in the sixth. Lilly wasn’t too bad, just made some mistake pitches that Werth made him pay for.

Neal Cotts was terrible out of the pen as he came in for Lilly. Cotts gave up solo home runs to Werth and Ryan Howard in the eighth inning. Those two home runs were some big insurance runs for the Phillies as the Cubs were not able to come back.

Aramis Ramirez attemped to get the Cubs going as he had a rbi single in the bottom of the eighth inning. However with two runners on base, the Phillies brought in J.C. Romero and he struck out Jim Edmonds, Ronny Cedeno, and Geovany Soto to end the inning. Soto had the Cubs first run of the game in the second inning when he singled and  Mark DeRosa scored.

The Cubs will try to win the series on Sunday afternoon as they face the Phillies for the last time of the regular season. Carlos Zambrano will get the start for the Cubs and hopefully he will throw the ball well and and not be wild like he has been in his last four starts.

Let’s start a new winning streak! GO CUBS!

Another day, another Cubs win as the Cubbies took game two against the Phillies by the score of 3-2. It was a pitching show down between ex teammates in Rich Harden and Joe Blanton but both pitchers only lasted a little over five innings in the game. Once again it was the Cubs scoring late to win the game.

Alfonso Soriano crushed a home run off of Clay Condrey in the seventh inning for the winning run. Soriano absolutely  crushed the ball and it was a no doube about it home run. The first run the Cubs scored came in the fifth inning when Daryle Ward grounded into a fielders choice. It sould have been an inning ending double play, however Jimmy Rollins’s throw was high and Mark DeRosa was able to score. The second run for the Cubs came in the sixth inning when Kosuke Fukudome walked off of former Cub Scott Eyre and Ryan Theriot scored.

As for Rich Harden, he only lasted five innings as his pitch count got high right away in the game. Harden was wild as he walked four batters and struck out five. The Cubs bullpen was awesome as they held the Phillies scoreless the final four innigs of the game while the offense came from behind to get the win. Chad Gaudin, Jeff Samardzija, and Carlos Marmol all threw out of the pen. Samardzija tossed 1 1/3 innings to get his first win of his career and Marmol tossed 1 2/3 innings to get the save as he filled in for Kerry Wood. Marmol came in in the eighth inning and got the Cubs out of a jam as he struck out both batters. He added another strike out in the ninth inning as well.

So now the Cubs are up two games in the four game series and hope to make in three on Saturday afternoon. It will be Ted Lilly on the mound against Brett Myers for the Phillies.

Holy cow what a win for the Chicago Cubs over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night! With the score 4-2 in the eighth inning, Aramis Ramirez came to the plate with the bases loaded and smashed a grand slam off of Phillies reliever Chad Durbin to give the Cubs the 6-4 lead. Kerry Wood made sure that lead held up in the ninth and the Cubs took the first game in the four game series.

I knew that it would be a tough game against the Phillies as they were sending Cole Hamels to the mound. Hamels pitched seven innings and only allowed five hits as the Cubs just couldn’t get anything going off of him. Once Hamels was pulled from the game however, the Cubs bats came alive.

Mike Fontenot got everything started with this solo home run off of Ryan Madson to lead off the eighth inning and then we all know what happened when Ramirez came to the plate with the bases loaded. It just seemed like the hitters had a big sigh of relief when Hamels was taken out of the game and they had a lot more confidence hitting against the Phillies bullpen.

Ryan Dempster struggled as he threw six inning and allowed eight hits and four runs. He ended up with the no decision in the game and is still 15-5 on the year. Bob Howry who pitched the eighth inning received the win to improve his record to 6-4. Wood made his fourth straight appearance for his 28th save of the season. I’d expect Wood to get Friday off and see Carlos Marmol in the closers role.

It will be a short turn around for both teams as they will play a afternoon game at Wrigley Field on Friday. Rich Harden will be going against his ex teammate in Oakland Joe Blanton.

The Chicago Cubs stayed hot as they won for the fifth straight time and defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 on Wednesday afternoon. The game was awesome because the Cubs swept the Pirates and it keeps pressure on the Milwaukee Brewers who will play tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals. No matter what, we know that the Cubs will be up atleast five games tomorrow.

Jason Marquis pitched awesome has he picked up the win and and is now 9-7 on the year. Marquis didn’t have that one big inning that hurt him like in the past few outings and it definately showed in his stats. Jason did not walk a batter and struckout three. In classic fashion, Carlos Marmol tossed the eighth inning and then Kerry Wood came in to get the save which was his 27th of the season.

For the Cubs offense, they struggled for most of the game as they were up there swinging at a lot of pitchers to make sure the game got finished before the rain came. They did not want to sit through a long rain delay as they had to fly back to Chicago right after the game. The two runs that they did score came on back to back plays in the seventh inning. The first was on a slow roller to third base by Ronny Cedeno that Reed Johnson scored on. Johnson went on contact and the ball was hit slowly enough it allowed him to score without a throw to home. On the very next pitch with Mark DeRosa at third base, Lou Piniella called for the squeeze play which Henry Blanco barely got down. DeRosa scored on the play but it could have easily been a double play the way Blanco bunted the ball up into the air. Sometimes you just have to get lucky.

So now the Cubs will head back to Chicago where they will open up a four game series with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are playing some great baseball and are in the playoff hunt in the East division so it will be a very good series. I’m expecting the Cubs to take two or three games in the series.

GO CUBS!

It was a back and forth slug fest between the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. The Cubs used a big seven run eighth inning to come from behind and beat the Pirates by the score of 14-9 and will now be going for the three game sweep Wednesday afternoon.

Geovany Soto had the best night of his career at the plate as he finished the game with seven rbi’s. Soto was the man as he came to the plate twice with the bases loaded and both time hit doubles that scored three runs. His last double that scored three runs was about 5 ft from being a home-run as he hit the scoreboard about half way  up in right-center field. Hit other rbi on the night did come on a solo home run in the sixth inning.

Derrek Lee picked up a couple of rbi in the game even though he continues to struggle at the plate. Lee had a rbi groundout and then walked with the bases loaded. When was the last time Lee hit the ball hard into the gap instead of rolling over and grounding out to shortstop or striking out?

Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson, Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot, and Carlos Zambrano all had rbi in the game as well. Zambrano extended his hitting streak and rbi streak in the game. It was Zambrano’s 13th straight game with a hit and his eighth straight game with an rbi.

Big Z wasn’t his usual self on the mound however. He gave up eight hits and six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings and got a no decision in the game. Once again Zambrano had problems with the free passes as he gave up four walks. You could tell it was going to be a long night for Z after the first inning and his pitch count was already high.

Sean Marshall who pitched the seventh inning ended up getting the victory in relief and is now 3-3 on the season. Kerry Wood pitched the ninth inning and gave up three hits and a run. Wood was clearly going in there with a big lead and just making the Pirates put the ball in play and that is exactly what they did.

It will be a short turnaround for the teams as they play an early game in Pittsbugh on Wednesday. Jason Marquis will go to the mound for the Cubs as they look for the three game sweep.