Can This Count For October?

Alfonso Soriano entered today's game hitting under .200... No one, myself included, would've thought that he would have a four hit game. Soriano is really working to prove that his bat is still essential to this Cubs offense. Soriano's only couple of blemishes were his slow running resulting in two very close calls at the plate, in Soraino's defense, he did manage to get in safely both times, but his speed is evidently not 100% since his recent trip to the DL.

The Cubs couldn't figure out rookie pitcher Max Scherzer. Scherzer had only one run charged against him, and he truly pitched great ball. Dempster pitched great as well, and he only gave up 2 runs, both pitchers were lifted in the 7th inning. The Cubs certainly didn't mind.

The Cubs scored 6 runs in the bottom of the seventh, with Ward, Soriano, Ramirez, and Fukudome all driving in runs. Fukudome did his in style, he belted his second homer of the year into the right center field bleachers.

In a series that the Cubs could easily sweep with their ace, Carlos Zambrano, taking the mound tomorrow, I'm sure the team and Chicago fans everywhere are thinking, can this count for October? I'll admit, I'm still a little upset about the Cubs getting swept by such a young D'Backs team in the NLDS, but one has to admit, with this series conclusion pointing towards a sweep of the hottest team in MLB, revenge tastes so sweet...

Big Win

1st inning, Lilly had gotten out the first two, and just like that Chris Young hits his ninth home run of the season... It felt like it was Lieber's outing all over again, we had already let them get ahead, and it was only the first inning, are we just supposed to never win the opening game of a series ever again? All these things crossed my mind, and then I heard Pat Hughes say that Jackson popped out to center and the inning was over. Thank God. Both pitchers pitched shut out ball from that moment on until the bottom of the fifth inning.

With 2 outs, Mark DeRosa stepped up to the plate. DeRosa had really been struggling. To give you an idea of how badly he struggled, he had ONE hit on the Cubs road trip. He had a hit in his last at bat, but it was one he really had to run for, just barely getting an infield single. So, when he drilled a ball for a double to deep left, no one had a bigger grin on his face than De-Ro, he just hoped that it would pay off. Pay off it did, Reed Johnson was intentionally walked to get to the pitcher Ted Lilly who hit an RBI single driving in DeRosa and tying the game at one apiece. Another struggling hitter: Alfonso Soriano then stepped up to the plate and he also hit an RBI double giving the Cubs the lead, a lead that they would not relinquish.

Ted Lilly pitched up until the 7th inning, and ended his day by only giving up three hits and striking out 10... Carlos Marmol then pitched a 1 hit shout out 8th. Derrek Lee padded the Cubs lead with his 9th home run of the season, and then Kerry Wood pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the deal.

This was a huge win for the Cubs for a few reasons, they needed to slow down the best team in the National League, a team that had swept them and ended their playoff run last October. They needed it themselves regardless of if it was the best team in the NL, or the worst, the Cubs hadn't won the opening game of a series in practically two weeks. This makes it much more likely that they will win this series.

Tomorrow, the converted starter from closer, Ryan Dempster (4-1) will take the mound against Max Scherzer (0-1).

For my non-existenet readers, sorry for not blogging these past couple weeks, it's been a tough stretch of games since my last post.

The Cubs after today's win are 20-15, and are currently a game and a half behind St. Louis in the Central... The Cardinals play later today, and if they lose the Cubs will only be a game back, if they lose, they'll stay 2 back...

Series Loss...

The Chicago Cubs lost the series against the Washington Nationals. They split the first two, but Washington pitched shutout ball in today's 2-0 loss. The Cubs' record is now 16-9. The Cubs finish their road trip 2-3... The Cubs will play Milwaukee Tuesday through Thursday, and then travel to St. Louis for a weekend series. The Cubs continue to lead the Central by half a game over the Cardinals...

10,000th, but not 10,001

The Cubs got their 10,000th franchise victory last night against the Colorado Rockies in a dramatic fashion, with a few changes in the lead and blown saves by both Colorado pitching, as well as Chicago pitching. But the Cubs came out dominant in the end after 10 innings.

On a bleaker note, the Cubs ended their 6 game winning streak today getting beat by the Rockies. The Cubs and Rox spllit two, and the Cubs will continue their road trip tomorrow in our nation's capital facing the Nationals.

4-23-08- Winning pitcher (and a blown save) Kerry Wood, 2-0
Save- Carlos Marmol

4-24-08- Losing pitcher Kevin Hart 0-2

9,999th Win, 5 in a Row, 2 Sweeps in a Row...

The Cubs are arguably the hottest team in Major League Baseball, they currently have the best on base percentage in the National League, they've scored an average of about 8 runs over their win streak, and they've gotten the long ball going. The offense isn't really a concern for the Cubs... Maybe one thing they need to work on is their starting pitching, but even that isn't a huge problem for them.

It was another day where nearly eveyone tried to contribute to the offense. Even Ted Lilly (1-3) was able to hustle his way to an infield single. But the two that contributed the most weren't even on the opening day roster. Reed Johnson continues to surprise the Cubs, and makes the late move of picking him up off of Toronto, one of the best moves of the offseason. He had a 2 RBI single in the 4th. Of course, their biggest offseason pick up continues to raise his on base percentage. Kosuke Fukudome reached base on all 5 plate appearances, walking twice, and getting 3 hits. While he didn't have any RBIs, he did score 2 runs. The RBI machine, Ronny Cedeno, had an RBI double in the 4th, and then hit his first career grand slam in the 8th giving the Cubs an 8-1 lead. The Cubs are now 14-6, the last time the Cubs started off this well, you have to go back to 1975.

The Cubs are one win shy of winning their 10,000th victory, if they are able to overcome Colorado today, they will accomplish that feat.

4 In a Row, Cubs Go For Second Straight Sweep

Carlos Zambrano (3-1) may not have hit as well as he did in his last game, but his slider was either striking out the batters he faced, or it was turned into a double play. The only run that Big Z gave up was in the 6th inning.

Meanwhile, while Big Z and the defense were doing thier job limiting the runs of the Mets, the bats continue to get hot. Aramis Ramirez hit a 2 run homer, which would be all that Cubs would need, but the bats got hot again in the 5 run 8th inning. D-Lee, Ramirez and Fukudome got on base with no outs. Mark DeRosa and Geovany Soto went down swinging, then Ronny Cedeno hit a 2 run single, and Felix Pie came up to bat and hit into the stands giving the Cubs a 7-1 lead.

While it wasn't a save situation, closer Kerry Wood pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, thus allowing the Cubs to keep pace with the Cardinals, staying just a half game ahead of St. Louis who overcame the Brewers last night. The Cubs will face off against the Mets again this afternoon going for their second straight sweep.

Felix Pie and Kosuke Fukudome celebrate their 7-1 victory over the New York Mets at Wrigley Field. The Cubs have won 4 in a row and are looking to go for their second straight sweep.

9, Another Sweep, and First In the Central

The Cubs scored another 13... Yet again, it's hard to point to one person who contributed the most out of the offense, Aramis Ramirez was the only one to hit a home run on the Cubs, but the Cubs already had a comfy lead at that point. The Cubs sweep the Pirates for the second time this season, improve their homestand record to 5-1, and improves their season record to 12-6 taking the top spot atop the NL Central. Ryan Dempster (3-0) picks up his 3rd win of this season pitching 5 innings while only giving up 3 runs.

The final- 12-6, Cubs (12-6, 1st NL Central) beat the Pirates (7-11, 5th NL Central).

Things of interest- Kosuke Fukudome missed the game due to an inflamed eye. Matt Murton got the nod in right after being called up from AAA Iowa. Reed Johnson appears to be the starting center fielder now. He is hitting much better than Pie, and has made some excellent defensive plays.