It was another good game for the Chicago Cubs as they dominated the Houston Astros by the score of 6-1. Once again, the Cubs pitching shut down the Astros as Ted Lilly had a no hitter into the seventh inning. The Cubs only gave up one hit the entire two game series against the Astros. Talk about domination!

Lilly gave up a sharp line drive to left center in the seventh inning to Mark Loretta before finishing out the inning and getting a standing ovation. Lilly improved to 15-9 with the win as he pitched awesome. I was sitting here thinking “Wouldn’t it be awesome to see two no hitters in back to back days?”, however it wasn’t meant to be but I’ll take that performance any day of the week.

Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto both hit two-run home runs in the game to set the pace for the Cubs. Both of the home runs came in the sixth inning when the Cubs score four runs. Jim Edmonds also went deep in the fourth inning for a solo shot. Aramis Ramirez got the Cubs scoring started with a rbi sac fly in the first inning.

It was a great game all around for the Cubs as they are currently up eight games in the division and will start a series with the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. The Cubs have a shot at clinching the division at home, so hopefully we will see another great series out of the Cubs!

The Chicago Cubs picked up a hige win against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night. It was a very big win because the Milwaukee Brewers also won and the Cubs remain 4.5 games on top in the division.

On Wednesday night, the game was all about Ted Lilly who tossed eight innings and only gave up one run. Lilly was awesome down in St. Louis and he improved his record to 14-9.

Kerry Wood had some trouble in the ninth inning as he gave up a two-run home run to Ryan Ludwick but then he retired the next batter to secure the save and the cubs victory. Wood needs to have some 1-2-3 innings out there to take off all this pressure!

At the plate for the cubs, Alfonso Soriano, Felix Pie, and Aramis Ramirez all had one rbi each. The other run for the Cubs came via a Felipe Lopez error in the second inning. The Cubs scored all four of their runs in the second inning and then held on for the victory.

The Cubs and Cardinals play one more game on Thursday night. Hopefully the Cubs can win again and win this series down in St. Louis.

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What’s going on Cubs fans? The Chicago Cubs continue to play some very good baseball as they kicked off a three game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates with an 12-3 victory over the Pirates. The Cubs came out and swung the bats very well against the Pirates pitchers and really put the the Pirates in a big hole.

Aramis Ramirez hit another three run home run and finished the game with four rbi. Kosuke Fukudome also had four rbi in the game as he went 3-4. JIm Edmonds, Henry Blanco, and Ted Lilly all helped out at the plate as they each had a rbi as well. The Cubs batters took four walks and struck out five times in the game as they were very productive.

Lilly pitched seven innings to get the victory. Lilly gave up seven hits and three runs while striking out seven Pirates to get the victory and improve to 13-7 on the season. Bob Howry gave up a single in the eighth inning but did not allow a run and then Kerry Wood pitched the ninth inning to finish up the game.

The Cubs will try to win the second game of the series Tuesday night. Go Cubs!

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The Chicago Cubs high powered offense was shut down by Bronson Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night. The Reds beat the Cubs by the score of 2-1 as the Cubs just simply didn’t have it going at the plate. They were swinging at terrible pitches and the ump had a small zone so they shouldn’t have been swinging like they were.

It was a wasted efford by Ted Lilly who through a no-hitter through five innings but then allowed a run sixth inning and then another one in the seventh inning. Lilly ended up with the loss and is now 12-7 on the season. Neal Cotts and Jeff Samardzija seen action out of the bullpen.

The Cubs will try to win on Wednesday and get another series win as they send Carlos Zambrano to the mound.

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The Chicago Cubs won their eighth straight game on the road as they pounded out a 11-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night. The Cubs once again scored a ton of runs and got to the Braves bullpen early in the ballgame. When you knock the opposing teams pitchers out of the game before the fifth inning three games in a row, good things are going to happen and that is exactly what happened for the Cubs as they swept the Braves.

Ted Lilly didn’t have his best stuff as he was charged with four runs but it was good enough to get the win and improve to 12-6 on the year. Bob Howy had some trouble as he allowed a three run home run that got the Braves back within four runs. Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood then finished up the Braves in the final two innings.

Aramis Ramirez hit a three run home run to lead the Cubbies at the plate with three rbi. Alfonso Soriano added a two run shot of his own as well. Geovany Soto had another great game at the plate as he had three walks and two rbi. Mark DeRosa, Reed Johnson, Daryle Ward, and Ryan Theriot all had one rbi each as well.

The Cubbies will try to make it nine in a row on the road Friday night as they take on the Florida Marlins. Big Z will be taking the mound for the Cubs.

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The Friendly Confines turned very unfriendly this afternoon for Cub Fans.  The rain held off but that didn’t stop the Cincinnati Reds from raining 7 HR’s in the Wrigley Field bleachers this afternoon on their way to a 12-7 win.  The loss ended a 3 game winning streak by the Cubs and prevented the Wrigley faithful from an opportunity to wave their broomsticks. 

The Cubs would strike first on a double by Derek Lee scoring Ryan Theriot in the first inning.  Hot hitting Mike Fontenot would double and score on a 2 RBI single from “The Riot” in the 2^nd inning that gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead.  That would not hold for long as Lilly could not make it out of the 3^rd inning giving up 3 runs including the go ahead 3 run shot from Red’s second baseman Brandon Phillips.  The Reds would not look back from that point as they would get 4 more runs in the 4^th capped off by Ken Griffey Jr’s 605^th career HR.  Griffey finished the day knocking in 4 runs on 2 hits.  Fontenot again delivered in the 4^th with a one out 2 run shot to the right field bleachers.  He would finish the day with 2 hits, 3 runs, and 2 RBI’s. 

The Reds just continued to pour it on as catcher David Ross led off both the 5^th and 7^th inning with HR’s, his first multi-homerun game of the season.  Votto capped off the power display when he hit the Red’s seventh and final HR in the top of the ninth inning. 

The Cubs did get their first look at newly acquired RHP Chad Gaudin in the top of the seventh.  He got behind David Ross quickly and Ross made him pay by hitting his second HR of the day.  After Gaudin gave up a single to the next batter he went on to retire 6 in a row.  Maybe Chad just needed to shake off the butterflies he felt pitching for his first time as a Chicago Cub!  Watch for Gaudin to be the real sleeper in the blockbuster trade made Tuesday for Rich Harden. 

Ted Lilly took the loss today and was unsuccessful in his bid to win his 10^th game of the season.  Lilly now falls to (9-6) on the season and will not pitch again until after the All-Star break.  Red’s starter Bronson Arroyo gets the win despite giving up 5 runs and 7 hits in 5 innings.  He now moves to (7-7) on the season with a 5.97 ERA. 

Hold on Cubs fans there is a little brighter news to report…  First Round pick Andrew Cashner, the right-handed closer from Texas, signed with the Cubs today and even got to throw in front of Cub’s pitching coach Larry Rothschild.  He is all set to join the rookie league team in Mesa.  It was also confirmed today that Cub’s fans will get their first look at Rich Harden on Saturday as the Cubs host the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field.  The Cubs will most certainly have a packed house on hand to welcome him to his new home on the Northside.  The Giants series begins tomorrow as the Cubs will look to get back on track with Jason Marquis taking the mound in a showdown with talented Giant hurler, Matt Cain.  Let’s go Cubs!

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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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

Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto hit a three run home run in the fourth inning to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead and then the Cubs went on to beat the Astros 7-2.  Soto’s home run was actually ruled an inside the park home run even though replays clearly showed that it should have been home run no matter what.  Soto hustled around the bases anyway and hit the first inside the home run for the Cubs since Derrek Lee did it against the Astros last season.

Aramis Ramirez also had a home run in the game as he hit a shot to left field in the ninth inning to score two runs.  It was about time to see Ramirez go deep as he has been in a home run slump lately.  Derrek Lee and Ryan Theriot both had an rbi in the game as well.

Ted Lilly pitched 5 1/3 innings to get the win.  Lilly is now 5-4 on the season.  Lilly gave up four hits and two runs while striking out six batters and walking two.  Jon Lieber tossed 1 2/3 inning of relief and only gave up one hit.  Michael Wuertz, Carlos Marmol, and Bob Howry all seen action as well in the game.

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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.

Cubs Homeplate is currently seeking a Cubs fan that would like to write game recaps for the games.  Recaps can be done right after the game is over or the next morning.  If you are interested be us the contact us link at the top of the site to email us.  Cubs Blog