Ted Lilly didn’t have his best stuff as he was charged with four runs but it was good enough to get the win and improve to 12-6 on the year. Bob Howy had some trouble as he allowed a three run home run that got the Braves back within four runs. Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood then finished up the Braves in the final two innings.

Aramis Ramirez hit a three run home run to lead the Cubbies at the plate with three rbi. Alfonso Soriano added a two run shot of his own as well. Geovany Soto had another great game at the plate as he had three walks and two rbi. Mark DeRosa, Reed Johnson, Daryle Ward, and Ryan Theriot all had one rbi each as well.

The Cubbies will try to make it nine in a row on the road Friday night as they take on the Florida Marlins. Big Z will be taking the mound for the Cubs.

Cubs Baseball Blog

Right now I’ll just give you a short recap of game one of the double header against the Braves.  The Cubs bats were swinging and knocking in runs as they crushed the Braves 10-2.  Jason Marquis tossed 5 1/3 innings to pick up the win.  Marquis didn’t pitch too badly as he gave up six hits and two runs, but his pitch count really got up there and that is why he only lasted a little over five innings.  Marquis had to work out of jams quite a few times and that is why the pitchcount was so high.

Neal Cotts, Jeff Samardzija, and Bob Howry all seen action out of the bullpen.  All three pitched great and allowed the team to save Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol for the second game which will kick off at 6 p.m. central time.

Geovany Soto led the offense by going 3-4 with four rbi.  Soto had a two run double in the second inning and then added a two run home run in the ninth inning.  I would expect to see Soto sit out the second game and Henry Blanco to get the start.  Jim Edmonds also had a good game at the plate as he had three rbi in the game.  Aramis Ramirez, Mark DeRosa, and Ryan Theriot all added one rbi each as well.

Let’s go get game two and hopefully see a Brewers loss later tonight. GO CUBS!

Cubs Baseball

A brilliant effort from Jason Marquis, and an 8^th inning homerun from “Mr. Clutch”, Aramis Ramirez, got the Cubs back on track with a 3-1 victory Friday afternoon.  Marquis, who pitched like a starter fighting to keep his rotation spot, threw 7 scoreless innings giving up 3 hits and no runs.  Giant’s pitcher Matt Cain was just as brilliant through 7 as he gave up 3 hits, no runs, and struck out nine Cub batters. 

With the flags barely moving, it was evident early in the game that we would not see the same type of day that led to 7 Red’s homeruns just a day before.  Both starting pitchers were dominant on the mound and through 7 innings the game was scoreless.  After a double from Cub’s leftfielder Daryle Ward, Piniella put in Ronny Cedeno to pinch run, and decided to pinch hit for Marquis in the bottom of the 7^th despite the low pitch count he had attained.  The move would cost Marquis a chance for the win as Kosuke Fukudome failed to plate the run.  It was obvious that Marquis was well aware of the looming probability that he might lose his rotation spot with the acquisition of Rich Harden, and he pitched well enough to earn another start.  With one out and nobody on, Giant’s manager Bruce Bochy decided that Matt Cain’s day was done and pinch hit for him in the 8^th.  Bob Howry pitched a perfect 8^th inning that set the stage for the ensuing drama that was about to take place.

Cub’s shortstop, Ryan Theriot,  kept his eight game hitting streak alive on a bloop play in the 3^rd and then led off the bottom of the 8^th inning with his second single of the game.  Mike Fontenot then bunted Theriot over to second to put the go ahead run in scoring position.  Giant’s pitcher, Tyler Walker, then proceeded to intentionally walk Derrek Lee to pitch to Aramis Ramirez with runners at first and second.   Ramirez then took the very first pitch and hit a hooking bomb towards the leftfield foul pole and out onto Waveland Ave to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.  The homerun was the 17^th of the year for Ramirez and drew a curtain-call from the 41,000 fans in attendance. 

Cub’s closer, Kerry Wood, got the call in the 9^th and got into immediate trouble when he let the first three batters he faced reach base.  Ray Durham would score for the Giants making it 3-1 and leaving runners at 1^st and 3^rd with no outs.  Wood then caught Aaron Rowand looking for strike three, as Bengie Molina stole second putting the tying run in scoring position with one out.  John Bowker then flew out to Kosuke Fukudome and the runners held.  As the fans got to their feet, Rich Aurilla hit a ground ball to Derrek Lee, who then tossed it over to Wood for the 3^rd and final out.  The save would be Wood’s 24^th tying him for first in the National League with Giant’s closer Brian Wilson. 

Cub’s fans get ready to welcome in Rich Harden tomorrow as he will face Giant’s pitcher Kevin Correia who is 1-5 with a 4.96 ERA.  Make note that the game time has been moved to 12:00pm Central time so get their early! 

Ryan Dempster threw seven innings and only allowed two hits and one run.  The one run came in the fourth inning when Dempster walked Paul Bako with the bases loaded.  Dempster is now 10-3 on the season with a 3.13 era.

Neal Cotts had some problems in the eighth inning as he walked two batters but Carlos Marmol came in to clean up the mess and get out of the jam.  That is now the third straight time Marmol has pitched well.  Bob Howry had some problems in the ninth inning as he gave up three hits and allowed two runs to score.  Howry was throwing the ball right down the middle and just letting the Reds hit it as he was out there pitching with a big league.

The Cubs will now welcome Harden and Gaudin on Wednesday and then go out and try to go up 2-0 in the three game series.

Cubs Blog

Jason Marquis took the loss and is now 6-4 on the season.  Marquis was hammered for seven runs in only four innings of action.  It sucked to see Marquis throw the ball so badly as he was going for his fifth straight win.  The relief pitchers really weren’t much better than Marquis as Jon Lieber gave up a run, Scott Eyre two runs, and Michael Wuertz one run.  Bob Howry and Neal Cotts each pitched an inning as well but they did not give up any runs.

The Cubs got a little rally going in the sixth inning when they scored three runs.  Henry Blanco, Daryle Ward, and Eric Patterson all had rbi singles in sixth inning.  In the eighth inning, Patterson also added a rbi sac fly.

The Cubs will now go down to the south side and take on the White Sox in a weekend series at U.S. Cellular. Hopefully the Cubs can take two of three atleast against the White Sox.

Cubs Blog

Besides getting two rbi from Fukudome, Ryan Theriot, Aramis Ramirez, and Mark DeRosa all had one rbi in the game.  DeRosa’s rbi came on a solo home run in the fourth inning.  The Cubs should have done more damage in the game but they left 20 runners on base.

Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster didn’t have his best stuff going and ended up getting a no decision in the game.  He was pulled after just 5 1/3 innings as he gave up five hits and three runs.  One of those hits however was a Jeff Kent solo home run.

Neal Cotts and Carlos Marmol got the Cubs into the eighth inning where Bob Howry gave up the lead as Kent hit his second solo home run of the game.  Howry would get lucky however as Fukudome picked him up and scored a run in the top of the ninth inning, and then Kerry Wood came in to record his 17th save of the season.  Wood is really racking up the save as of late!

The Cubs will continue playing the Dodgers through the weekend.  Cubs Blog

Alfonso Soriano had a three run shot in the eighth inning, Mark DeRosa hit a two run shot in the fifth inning, and earlier in the fifth inning Geovany Soto connected for his tenth home run as he went deep to center field.  Soto would have had another home run in the game as well in any other ball park but it was caughty right at the wall in deep center field.

Soriano led the Cubs with three rbi while DeRosa had two rbi.  Soto, Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez all had one rbi in the game.

On the mound it was Jason Marquis pitching five innings and picking up the win.  Marquis sure didn’t have his best stuff, and I think he was glad he was pitching in the big park as he got hit kind of hard.  Four hits and three runs were charged to Marquis as he improved his record to 3-3.

The Cubs used six relief pitchers for the final four innings of the game as Piniella is trying to not have each pitcher throw to many pitchers as they have been used a lot lately.  Kevin Hart who had just been called up threw the worst as he gave up two hits and three runs while walking two.  Hopefully it was just a case of nerves after being called back up to the big league team.

Michael Wuertz, Scott Eyre, Neal Cotts, Bob Howry, and Kerry Wood all seen action out of the bullpen.  Wood recorded his 16th save of the season in the game.  It would be great to see the Cubs starting throw a complete game or atleast seven or eight innings so the bullpen can get some rest…

As we mentioned Kevin Hart was called up and Micah Hoffpauir was sent down.  It was simply the case of the Cubs needing a fresh arm in the bullpen. Hoffpauir will more then likely be called up when the Cubs travel to Toronto.

Cubs Blog

Geovany Soto hit a sacrafice fly to right field with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning to tie the game.  Mike Fontenot then hit a double in the tenth inning, and Alfonso Soriano signled to left field to score Fontentot for the winning run.  Now that was a great comeback for the Cubs as they swept the Dodgers in the three game series.

Starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano got a no decision on the game.  Zambrano was a little wild but did pitch eight innings.  He allowed six hits, one run, four walks, and struckout three batters.

Jose Ascanio pitched a scoreless ninth inning before Bob Howry ended up picking up the win as he pitched the tenth inning.  Howry is now 1-2 on the season.

The Cubs will now play the Colorado Rockies in a four game series starting on Thursday.

Cubs Blog

Aramis Ramirez also had a home run in the game as he hit a shot to left field in the ninth inning to score two runs.  It was about time to see Ramirez go deep as he has been in a home run slump lately.  Derrek Lee and Ryan Theriot both had an rbi in the game as well.

Ted Lilly pitched 5 1/3 innings to get the win.  Lilly is now 5-4 on the season.  Lilly gave up four hits and two runs while striking out six batters and walking two.  Jon Lieber tossed 1 2/3 inning of relief and only gave up one hit.  Michael Wuertz, Carlos Marmol, and Bob Howry all seen action as well in the game.

Cubs Blog

The Cubs put up six runs in the fifth inning, and then another five runs in the sixth inning as they pretty much put the nail in the coffin for the Padres.  Alfonso Soriano had a two run home run, Geovany Soto and Mark DeRosa also both had two rbi in the game.  Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Kosuke Fukudome, and Reed Johnson all had one rbi in the game.

Carlos Zambrano picked up his sixth win of the season as he improved his record to 6-1 with the win.  Zambrano tossed seven innings and gave up six hits and three runs.  Zambrano’s pitch count was down, but with that big of lead Lou Piniella decided to take him out after seven innings.

Scott Eyre and Bob Howry closed out the game after Zambrano excited.

The Cubs are playing good ball once again, and they will try to keep it up tomorrow when they play another night game against the Padres.  Cubs Blog