The Chicago Cubs used the long ball to win their ninth straight game as they beat the San Diego Padres 9-6 at Petco Park.  Petco is not a park where you usually see home runs hits, but the Cubs hit three long balls in the game.

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.

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The Chicago Cubs score two runs in the seventh inning and then three more in the eighth inning as they came from behind to beat the Colorado Rockies 8-4.  That is a great way to start a four game series against the Rockies!  Good teams find ways to win and that is just what the Cubs did on Thursday night.

Geovany Soto had the winning hit for the Cubs in the seventh inning when he hit a sac fly to right field and Ryan Theriot scored.  From there on, it was all Cubs as the scored three more times in the eighth inning.  It was awesome to see Micah Hoffpauir get a rbi in the eighth inning as well.

Alfonso Soriano led the Cubs with two rbi while a slew of players had one rbi each.  Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Kosuke Fukudome, Soto, Reed Johnson, and Hoffpauir all had one rbi in the game.

Jason Marquis pitched pretty good until the but ran into a tough jam in the sixth inning.  Marquis got a no decision after throwing 5 1/3 innings and allowing seven hits and three runs.  Neal Cotts came in and two runs score that were charged to Marquis.  Michael Wuertz also gave up a run out of the bullpen before Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood finished off the Rockies in the eighth and ninth innings.

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The Chicago Cubs got out to a 3-0 lead but then Jason Marquis gave up a two run home run and a two run double in the fourth inning as the San Diego Padres scored four runs and made those four runs holdup as they beat the Cubs 4-3.  It was a rainy night at Wrigley Field and the the Cubs saw their four game winning streak come to a stop.

Marquis lost again and is now 1-3 on the season.  Marquis gave up nine hits and four runs in only 5 2/3 innings of action.  Marquis just might see his spot in the rotation get skipped once again the way he pitched tonight.

Alfonso Soriano continues to heat up as he led off the game with a solo home run.  Reed Johnson then had a two run double in the second inning that gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead.  That was all the scoring the Cubs would do however as they didn’t get another run in the game.

The Cubs and Padres will battle once again on Wednesday night.  Cubs Blog

The Milwaukee Brewers just seem to have the Chicago Cubs number so far in the 2008 season.  Once again, it was the Brewers beating the Cubs on Tuesday night by the score of 10-7.  The Brewers were all over starting pitcher Jason Marquis and the Cubs bullpen.

Marquis only lasted five innings as he gave up ten hits and five runs.  Kevin Hart then came into the game and gave up four hits and three more runs.  In relief of Hart, Sean Marshall gave up a run and then Jon Leiber also gave up a run.  Just a terrible performance by all the Cubs pitchers.

Derrek Lee did connect for his eighth home run of the season in the game.  Too bad it was a solo shot.  Mike Fonenot led the Cubs with three RBI has a he had a bases loaded double in the seventh inning.  Reed Johnson, Felix Pie, and Marquis all had one RBI each for the Cubbies.

The Cubs will try to battle back and pick up a win on Wednesday night as they battle the Brewers once again from Wrigley Field Come back to this Cubs Blog to check out the game recap after the game is over!

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The Chicago Cubs lost to the Colorado Rockies 4-2 on Thursday afternoon and their six game winning streak is over.  The Cubs had tied the game up in the eigth inning, but then allowed two runs in the bottom of the inning.  The cubs were almost out of the inning but Ronny Cedeno and Ryan Theriot were unable to turn an inning ending double play.

Kevin Hart took the loss for the Cubs as he pitched the eigth inning.  Starting pitcher Jason Marquis pitched ok as he went seven innings and allowed eight hits but only one run.  Marquis should have seen a better result then a no-decision but sometimes that is just how it goes.

Felix Pie and Mike Fontenot both had one RBI each at the plate.  Pie went 2-3 and had half the Cubs hits who could only mange four hits the entire game.

Now the Cubs will fly to Washington D.C. to start a weekend series with the Washington Nationals.

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It was an up and down day at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs and their fans, but in the end they were the one that left happy as the Cubs defeated the Astros 9-7.

Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fukudome led the Cubs during their comback as Lee went 4-4 with two RBI’s and falling just shy of the cycle by missing the triple.  Fukudome hit the game winning runs in with a double in the 7th inning that scored two runs for the Cubs.  Mark DeRosa followed with another double that score Fukudome to add an insurance run.

Jason Marquis was the Cubs start and he sucked it up.   No wonder why so many Cubs fans wanted him traded or even released.  The Cubs might look at pitching Sean Marshall in Marquis spot next time, because Marquis SUCKS!

Kevin Hart picked up the win in relief, and Kerry Wood picked up his second save of the season.

There was some rumblings between Jason Marquis and Lou Piniella over the weekend to go along with a broken finger for Alfonso Soriano out of Cubs spring training in Mesa, Arizona.

Marquis said that he is a starter in the big leagues and that he should be in the starting rotation with the Cubs or even another team.  Piniella then came back and said that maybe he should be pitching for another team then.  After both of them cooled down, Piniella said that everything was ok between the two of them.   I wonder if Marquis could possibly be included in the trade for Brian Roberts if that ever happens?

The Cubs will have to do without Alfonso Soriano for five to seven days as well as he suffered a broken middle finger while taking flyballs in practice.  Reports are saying that it isn’t too serious, and he just can’t use the finger for a little while.  Soriano can keep up with his running / conditioning so he will just have to put in some extra time in the batting cages to catch up.

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