Wow what a day for the Chicago Cubs as they made a big trade and then went out and beat the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 7-3.  The Cubs traded for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin and had to give up Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, Sean Gallagher, and Josh Donaldson.  After the trade was announced the Cubs got down to business on the field.

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.

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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.

Cubs Blog

The Chicago Cubs were finally able to win a road game as they beat the San Francisco Giants 9-2 on a cold night out in San Francisco.  Mark DeRosa had a huge night at the plate and Ted Lilly pitched into the ninth inning to really save the Cubs bullpen.  It was a great night for pretty much everyone on the Cubs roster.

DeRosa hit a two run home run in the fifth inning, and then added a grand slam in the eighth inning to really blow the game wide open for the Cubs.  DeRosa finished 3-4 with six rbi and two home runs in the game while he played third base.  Aramis Ramirez will be missing the entire Giants series as he has to take care of some personal matters down in the Dominican Republic.

Matt Murton had two rbi and Kosuke Fukudome chipped in with one rbi as well for the Cubs.  The Cubs could have made the score a lot worse, but they left 24 runners on base in the game.

Lilly pitched great in the game.  He pitched into the ninth inning until he ran into some trouble in the ninth inning when he left the game with two runners on.  Kerry Wood was then brought into the game and he gave up a double to Rich Aurilia that scored two runs.  Both of the runs were charged to Lilly in the game.  Wood was then finally able to close out the Giants.  Lilly is now 9-5 on the season after throwing his best game of the season.

The Cubs will try to make it two in a row on Tuesday night as Jason Marquis takes the mound against Matt Cain.

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The Chicago Cubs stuck it to the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 13-6 win on Sunday putting the Cubs at a pretty good start for the season with 12-6 record so far leading the National League Central standings.  The Cubs took over the game with 18 hits to generate 13 runs with runs in almost every inning of the game.

Ryan Dempster sealed his 3rd win of the year holding his perfect season of 3-0.  He pitched for five innings giving up five hits and three runs to be relieved by Bob Howry, Michael Wuertz, and Sean Marshall.  All three relievers in the game gave up one earned run each so that is something they are going to need to work on.

Aramis Ramirez hit in his fourth home run of the year as he knocked in four RBI in the game.  Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, and Matt Murton all had two RBI each.  Ronny Cedeno also had one RBI for the Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs will go up against the New York Mets starting Monday night at home.   Do you think they can stretch the winning streak to four games with Carlos Zambrano on the mound?

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General Manager Jim Hendry has said over and over that he would like to add a right handed outfielder that could possibly play all three positions before the season starts.  He has tried to trade for the Texas Rangers Marlon Byrd in the past when he offered Matt Murton straight up.

Nothing has been talked about for a few weeks until today.  It appears that the Rangers would like to do the deal, but only if the Cubs can include a pitching prospect it sounds like.  They feel that Byrd is move valuable then Murtan because of his defensive abilities.

Doesn’t sound like something will get done unless Hendry will include a pitching prospect.  If a deal does get done, Byrd will more then likely platoon with Felix Pie in center field.

Cubs Rumors