The Cubs and Dodgers kicked off the NLDS on Wednesday night and the Dodgers came away with a 7-2 victory over the Cubs. Now the Dodgers have home field advantage on their side as they need two more wins to win the series and they will play two out of three games at home.

Ryan Dempster took the loss for the Cubs as he was terrible on the mound in his 4 2/3 innings. Dempster was not his usual self as he walked seven batters including there in the fifth inning before he gave up a grand slam to James Loney. The Dodgers also hit solo home runs off of Jason Marquis and Sean Marshall in the game while tacking on another run off of Jeff Samardzija.

The Cubs had nine hits in the game, they just didn’t get the big hits that the Dodgers did. Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez only combined for two hits in the game. Mark DeRosa had both rbi’s for the Cubs when he hit a two-run home run in the second inning. The Cubs need more production and three or more hits in an inning to score some runs if they want to win game two.

Carlos Zambrano will take the mound on game two. Hopefully he comes out and gets ahead of hitters right away and the Cubs even up the series at one game each.

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Cub’s fans got exactly what they expected out of newly acquired pitcher, Rich Harden, but it would take an 11^th inning RBI single from Reed Johnson to secure the Cubs second straight victory.  Harden was effective through 5 1/3^rd innings giving up five hits while striking out ten batters and giving up no runs.  It was the third time in his career that Harden had double-digit strikeout totals and the second this year.  He would leave to a standing ovation in the 5^th inning with a smile on his face that was shared throughout the electric crowd on hand at Wrigley. 

The Cubs would give Harden plenty of run support early led by Jim Edmonds 2-run homer in the 3^rd and then a two-run double in the 4^th.  He would finish the day 2-4 with four RBI’s and 2 runs.  The Cubs would then take a 7-0 lead into the 8^th inning before Giant’s catcher, Bengie Molina, doubled in Ray Durham for the Giant’s first run.  They would score once more to make it 7-2 heading into the 9^th inning. 

In the 9^th, with a five run lead, Lou Piniella gave the ball to Carlos Marmol, who has struggled of late.  After a lead-off double to Giant’s shortstop, Ivan Ochoa, things would begin to unravel for Marmol.  After another single and two Cub’s misplays in the infield, the game was quickly tied 7-7.  Cub’s closer, Kerry Wood was unavailable in the game due to a blister so Lou went with Sean Marshall in the 10^th.  Marshall pitched two solid innings before leading off with a single in the 11^th.  Then, with Mark DeRosa at 2^nd and Mike Fontenot at 1^st, Reed Johnson hit a one out, game-winning single which scored Derosa on a very close call at home plate. 

Expect the presence of broomsticks in Wrigley for the series closer Sunday afternoon as the Cubs look for the sweep.  They will be facing Giant’s ace and All-Star, Tim Lincecum (10-2), who has looked like a Cy Young winner despite pitching for a team below .500.  The Cubs will bring Ryan Dempster to mound who has yet to lose in Wrigley Field this season.

Special Note….  Cubs shortstop, Ryan Theriot, went 3-4 on Saturday extending his hitting streak to nine games and upping his batting average to .322 on the year.

So that was the player Jim Hendry was trying to trade for all off season.  Brian Roberts led the Orioles with three hits and a rbi and as the Orioles defeated the Cubs 7-5 and snapped the Cubs 14 home game winnings streak.

The Cubs attempted a ninth inning rally and had the bases loaded with zero outs but Ronny Cedeno, Kosukue Fukudome, and Henry Blanco all struckout to end the game.  They were swinging at some very bad pitches for some reason.  You have to be more patient at the plate in that situation.

Jim Edmonds was the guy that got the Cubs back into the game as they were down 7-1 until he hit a three run home run in the seventh inning.  Aramis Ramirez then followed that with a two run single in the eighth inning to put the Cubs within striking distance but that was as close as they would get.  Fukudome did hit his sixth home run in the season as well.

Starting pitcher Sean Marshall struggled on the mound in the fourth and fifth innings as he only lasted 4 2/3 innings after giving up seven hits and four runs.  Marshall did strikeout seven batters but the fourt and fifth inning really hurt up.  Michael Wuertz wasn’t much better as he allowed two hits and three runs to score in only one inning of action.

The Cubs will now try to start another winning streak on Wednesday night.  Hopefully they can tie the series up at 1-1 with Ted Lilly on the mound.

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What a terrible game by the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday afternoon as they lost to the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 9-0.  The Reds hit seven home runs in the game as the Cubs pitchers struggled to keep the ball down.  Hell, it could have been 15-0 with seven home runs lol.

Jon Lieber who was making his first start of the season gave up four home runs in the second inning alone.  Sean Marshall gave up back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning and Sean Gallagher gave up a home run in the sixth inning.  Joey Votto alone had three home runs for the Reds.

The Cubs only managed six hit the entire game.  They left twenty guys on base and struck out eleven times.

All around it was just a terrible game by the Cubs.  They will have an off day on Thursday and then begin a three game weekend series with the league leading Arizona Diamondbacks.

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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 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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The Chicago Cubs were not able to complete the sweep against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday as Ted Lilly lost his third game in a row this season.  Lilly’s record is now 0-3 on the season and he really needs to turn things around quickly.  The Cubs still don’t have a win by a left handed pitcher this year.

Lilly pitched six innings and gave up six hits and five earned runs.  He kept the ball up and the Reds hitters really made him pay.  Especially Joey Votto who had five RBI in the game.

Jon Leiber came in and pitched after Lilly and served up a three run home run to Ken Griffey Jr.  so he didn’t fare much better then Lilly.  Bob Howry also let one run score in the game.  Sean Marshall and Michael Wuertz pitched the final 1.1 innings and did not allow a hit.

Reed Johnson led the Cubs at the plate as he went 4-4.  I think it is safe to say that Johnson is going to start getting a lot more playing time in the outfield as he is hitting the ball pretty good.  Henry Blanco and Lilly had one RBI each for the Cubs.  The Cubs could have done a lot more damage in the middle innings had Blanco not missed some signs and was able to actually do something with the bat.  It’s too bad Geovany Soto can’t play everyday.

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What an up and down game for the Chicago Cubs as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 in 15 innings of play.  After blowing leads in the 9th and 14th innings, the Cubs were finally able to hold a two run lead in the 15th inning to pick up the win.

The first blow save was Kerry Wood in the 9th inning when Jason Bay hit a homerun to tie the game.  And then in the 14th inning, the Adam LaRoche connected for a two run home run off of Kevin Hart that once again tied the game.  But in the 15th inning, Sean Marshall was able to close the door on the Pirates and pick up the save.

Felix Pie delivered the game winning hit for the Cubs as he singled in the top of the 15th inning with two outs.  In the 14th inning, it was a two run home run by Aramis Ramirez that put the Cubs ahead when they couldn’t hold on.

What gets lost in all of this was the great seven innings that starting pitcher Ryan Dempster through.  He only allowed one hit in seven innings and pitched marvelous.

Both teams are going to be very tired for Thursday’s night game.  We could see another really sloppy game again I think.

Cubs Blog

The Brian Roberts to the Cubs Rumors have not stopped even though the trade was first talked about before the Winter meetings.  If the deal were to happen today, it looks like the Cubs would be sending Sean Marshall, Sean Gallagher, and Ronny Cedeno to the Orioles for Brian Roberts.

Personall, I think two pitchers and Cedeno is a little bit too much for Roberts.  But you have to give up something to get something in return so I can see where they are coming from as well.  I just don’t like getting rid of pitching depth, when a team can always use that.  Look at how many pitchers the Cubs went through last year, it is always nice to have a pitcher like Marshall or Gallagher come in and throw some innings when needed.

Do you like a Marshall, Gallagher, Cedeno deal for Roberts?  Leave us a comment and let us know!