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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The Chicago Cubs capitalized on a error by the San Diego Padres as they opened up the flood gates and put up 12 runs on the board as they beat the Padres 12-3.  Great win for the Cubs as they are off to a 4-0 start on their current homestand and have moved a game up in the division on the St. Louis Cardinals.

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

Carlos Zambrano threw eight strong innings as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 on Tuesday night.  Zambrano quickly worked through the Reds lineup as he only gave up three hits while walking three batters and stricking out three batters.

Kerry Wood worked the ninth inning to pick up his fifth save of the season.  It has been exactly 10 years since Wood struckout 20 batters in his rookie season. Wow does time fly by.

Aramis Ramirez had a RBI single in the first inning to get the Cubs on the board.  Ronny Cedeno had a big two run single in the in the fourth inning as he continues to swing a hot bat.  It was really nice to see Ramirez back in the lineup for the Cubs as well.  Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fukudome both struggled in the game as they both went 0-3.

The Cubs will go for the series win Wednesday morning/afternoon as they send Jon Leiber to the mound against the Reds.

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The Chicago Cubs were swinging some hot bats once again as they beat up on the New York Mets by the score of 8-1.  With the win on Tuesday, the Cubs swept the Mets in the short two game series, and remained in first place of the central division.

Ronny Cedeno led the Cubs at the plate going 2-5 with a grand slam and an RBI double.  Cedeno finished the day with five RBI and already has 13 on the season.  Reed Johnson finished with two RBI and Mark DeRosa had one RBI.  Up and down the lineup, the Cubs are hitting the ball and being patient at the plate.

Another Cubs player that had a great day at the plate was Kosuke Fukudome who reached base all five times.  Fukudome had three hits and two walks.

Ted Lilly was finally able to pick up a win this season.  He pitched six innings and gave up four hits and only one run.  Great outing for Lilly, hopefully that momentum will carry over and he will go on a nice winning streak.

Bob Howry, Carlos Marmol, and Kevin Hart pitched the final three innings of the game without allowing a run.

The Cubs finished the homestand with a 7-1 record!

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The Chicago Cubs rocked the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 12-3 on Wednesday night.  The Cubs rocked Reds starting pithcer Josh Fogg early and often and also had some luck off of their bullpen.

Geovany Soto led the Cubs with three RBI, Kosuke Fukudome and Mark DeRosa both had two RBI.  Mike Fontenot, Derrek Lee, Reed Johnson, and and Carlos Zambrano all had one RBI each.  Zambrabo had a hell of a day at the plate as he went 3-4 including hits from both sides of the plate.

Zambrano did pick up the win as he pitched seven innings.  He did give up eight hits and two earned runs but pitched well enough to pick up the victory.  Kevin Hart pitched the final two innings of the game and allowed one earned run on a Adam Dunn home run.

Good win for the Cubs as they continue to play good baseball.

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The Chicago Cubs blew a 7-0 lead and then went onto beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in 12 innings by the score of 10-8.  It was a sloppy game played by both teams.  From errors, to walked batters, it seemed like the game would never get over.  Finally the Cubs pushed across two runs in the 12th inning to pick up the win.

Jon Leiber pitching in relief picked up his first win of the season.  Carlos Marmol pitched the 12th inning and picked up his first save of the season.  Kerry Wood wasn’t planned to be used today, and that was why Marmol pitched the 12th inning.

At the plate for the Cubs, Kosuke Fukudome went 3-5 with an RBI, Geovany Soto was 3-7 with two RBI, Aramis Ramirez also had two RBI, and Ronny Cedeno had a bases loaded double that scored three runs for his only hit of the game.  Mark DeRosa was the only other Cub to record an RBI.

It was dissapointing to see the Cubs blow the big lead, but that is what happens when you walk batters and have three errors in the game.  With the off day tomorrow, hopefully they will take some groundballs and get some work in on the defensive side of the ball.

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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.

Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella is going to bat Alfonso Soriano in the #2 spot here towards the end of Spring Training and see how he does.  Piniella’s reason is because Soriano is only 80-85% healthy and he doesn’t want Soriano thinking he has to run as much as he would if he were in the lead off spot.

Ryan Theriot would bat leadoff and Kosuke Fukudome would be moved down to the #5 spot in the batting order if this  idea happens in the regular season.

To be honest, I don’t like it one bit.  We all know Soriano is a better player when he is a routine, and he has been batting leadoff since last season, so keep him there in my opinion.  I also dont’ agree with batting Theriot #1 and Fukudome in the #5 spots.  I think both of those players are better in other spots in the batting order.

What do you think Cubs fans? Was Lou drunk when he thought this up? lol!