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! 

Little man Mike Fontenot came up big for the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night as he hit the game winning home run in the eighth inning off of Tyler Walker and the Cubs defeated the San Francisco Giants 6-5.  It was awesome to see Fontenot hit the home run and pick up his teammate Carlos Marmol who just given up a three run home run the inning before.

Marmol, who hasn’t been throwing the ball that well lately once again struggled as he gave up a three run home run to Ray Durham in the seventh inning that tied the game at 5-5.  Marmol was picked up by his teammate however and actually got the win in the game to improve his record to 2-3.  Kerry Wood finally got a save opportunity and grabbed his 21st save of the season.

Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster got a no decision after throwing six innings of five hits and two run baseball.  Dempster would have pitched longer but he gave up a two run homer to John Bowker in the sixth inning that let the Giants right back in the game.  It was a quality outing for Dempster but still remains winless on the road.

Geovany Soto had a two run single in the seventh inning while Jim Edmonds had a two run home run in the sixth inning as they led the Cubs at the plat with two rbi each.  Matt Murton got the Cubs on the scoreboard in the first inning when he grounded into a double play and Edmonds scored from third.  Murton was not awarded for a rbi on the play however.

The Cubs can take three of four from the Giants if they are able to win on Thursday evening.  Hopefully they can win and then head to St. Louis and take on the Cardinals in a big four game series.

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Ted Lilly pitched seven innings despite giving up two two-run home runs to Jay Payton and the Chicago Cubs beat the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 7-4.  Now the series is tied at 1-1 and the two teams will play the rubber game on Thursday afternoon to see who wins the series.

Lilly improved to 8-5 with the victory.  He didn’t throw the ball that great but pitched well enough to keep the Cubs in the game.  Lilly gave up the two home runs to Jay Payton but those were the only hits that really caused any damage.  Carlos Marmol struck out his final two batters in the eighth inning and then closer Kerry Wood struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning to record his 20th save of the season.

At the plate Geovany Soto had a two run double and a rbi single to lead the Cubbies with three rbi.  Jim Edmonds also had two rbi including a solo home run.  Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa both had rbi singles in the first inning of the game as well.  It was awesome to see the Cubs score six runs in the first two innings of the game as that put the Orioles in a big hole that they just weren’t able to come out of.

Jason Marquis will take the mound for the Cubs on Thursday as they try to win the series against the Orioles.  Cubs Blogging

Jim Edmonds hit a game tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and then Reed Johnson was hit by a pitch in the 11th inning with the bases loaded as the Chicago Cubs came back to beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2.  It was awesome to see Edmonds be productive at the plate and keep the Cubs in the game.

Carlos Zambrano got the start for the Cubs and pitched seven innings while giving up eight hits and two runs.  Zambrano gave up a two run home run in the second inning to Jeff Francoeur but that was all the Braves would get.

The Cubs bullpen did a great job as Scott Eyre, Carlos Marmol, Neal Cotts, and Kerry Wood all contributed.  Wood was the one who got the win and is now 3-1 on the season.

The Cubs will now travel to Canada to take on the Blue Jays this weekend.  It could be a tough road trip for the Cubs, hopefully they will keep on winning!

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Kosuke Fukudome delivered the game winning rbi single for the Chicago Cubs in the ninth inning as the Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers by the score of 5-4.  Fukudome also got the Cubs scoring started in the second inning when he hit a solo home run which was his fourth of the season.

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

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 won their eighth straight game as they beat the San Diego Padres 7-6 in San Diego on Monday night.  It was a great start to a West coast road trip for the Cubs.  The Cubs are now 3.5 games up on the St. Louis Cardinals in the division as well.

Big Z – Carlos Zambrano did a little bit of everything against the Padres.  Zambrano went 3-3 at the plate including a triple and rbi.  On the mound, Zambrano only threw five innings but it was enough to get his eighth win of the season.

Everything was going good for Cubs pitchers until the ninth inning when Carlos Marmol gave up a three run home run to Adrian Gonzalez.  Marmol was then taken out of the game and Kerry Wood was brough in to record his 15th save of the season.

At the plate the Cubs were led by ex-Padre Jim Edmonds who had two doubles and two rbi.  Zambrano, Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Theriot, and Kosuke Fukudome all had one rbi in the game as well.

The Cubs will be going for their ninth straight win on Tuesday night when Jason Marquis takes the mound.

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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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Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster threw a gem against the San Diego Padres on Thursday as the Chicago Cubs beat the Padres 4-0.   Dempster only allowed five hits in the game as he was two outs away from a complete game.

Dempster improved to 5-1 on the season with the victory.  Dempster struckout twelve batters while only walking one batter.  Now that is a great day for any pitcher!  Kerry Wood came in with two runners on base and one out in the ninth inning to get the last two outs of the game and secure the shutout. Wood picked up his

Dempster didn’t only pitch though, he also had a rbi single in the fifth inning.  Ryan Theriot followed with an RBI as well in the fifth inning.  Also in the fifth inning, Derrek Lee had a two run double.  All four of the Cubs runs came in the fifth inning.

Now the Cubs will play the Pittsburgh Pirates who they are 6-0 against so far in the season.

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The Chicago Cubs scored early and often against San Diego Padres starting pitcher Jake Peavy on Wednesday night.  The Cubs knocked Peavy out of the game after four innings as they scored four quick runs off the Padres ace.  The Cubs went onto beat the Padres 8-5 in the game.

Ted Lilly pitched six innings while he struckout eleven batters to get the win for the Cubs.  Lilly has pitched pretty well his last couple of starts and looks to be back into form.

Carlos Marmol pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Lilly.  Marmol had no problems getting six outs as he struckout the side in the seventh inning and then pitched a quick eight innings.

Kerry Wood had some problems in the ninth inning, as he loaded the bases and the Padres scored one run before he was able to get the final out of the game.

Alfonso Soriano once again led off the game with a home run.  Soriano is really swinging the bat well as he hit his sixth home run of the season.  Geovany Soto also connected for a two run home run which was his seventh of the season.  Soriano and Soto both finished the game with three rbi.  Aramis Ramirez and Reed Johnson both had one rbi as well.

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