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

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 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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