It Could Be, It Might Be, It IS!!! 10,000!

A 100 year drought needs at least one giant bright spot, and that spot came late at night on April 23, 2008. Freakin' win no. 10,000 for MY Chicago Cubs. Unbelievable. That win pushed them to six straight, capping off one of the Cubs best starts in history. But of course, milestone games never come easy for the Cubs, because they won't let them. The Cubs led all the way into the sixth, until the Rockies gave the Cubs a taste of their own medicine by scoring five, taking the lead 5-3. The seventh inning looked promising for the Cubs until a crucial double play abruptly ends the rally. the ninth, where The RBI Machine, or what I like to call him, Mr. Clutch steps up and sends one a mile high into the night sky to give the Cubs the lead 6-5. And I know all of Cubs Nation was thinking 10,000 here we come, we're three outs away! Once more, they give the lead up, with K-Wood earning his second blown save of the year/career. But the Cubs pull it out in eleven, a fitting end, for a fitting win.
W: Wood (2-0)
L: Wells (1-1)
H: Marshall (2), Buchholz (5), Fuentes (6)
BS: Wood (2), Corpas (4)
SV: Marmol (2)

Win #1

First and foremost, take note that the blog has changed it's title! Now that the Cubs are playing incredibly well, I'm no longer in the same agony I've been in years before! Today was an important day in the Cubs Nation. Ted Lilly got his first win of the season, and the Cubs "swept" the Mets to go on a five game winning streak. I just can't understand how the Cubs continue to explode in singular innings. April 21, a five run eighth inning led by Felix Pie's first homer of the year, a 3-run shot. April 20, a five run fifth inning with a 2-run shot from Aramis Ramirez. And, today, Ronny Cedeno comes in and singlehandedly makes the game unsaveable for Kerry Wood, and Wood takes another day off. Ronny Cedeno has a career day as he says "Hello, Waveland" and jacks his first career grand slam to make a career high 5 RBIs for him today and cap off the five run rally in the eighth. Also, Carlos Marmol continues to roll, as he goes 1-2-3 in the eighth with 2 Ks. The Cubs are going on a five game road trip beginning in Denver as the Rockies are hoping to cool off the Cubs at Coors Field in the Rocky Mountain air. And the Nationals, well... they're going to try not to get shutout every night. After that, the Cubs are going to end the month the same way they began, at home against the Milwaukee Brewers.
W: Lilly (1-3)
L: Figueroa (1-1)
H: Howry (4), Marmol (7)
Notables: John Smoltz notched his 3,000th Strikeout tonight at home against the Nationals! Congratulations!

What'd the Pirates ever do to the Cubs?

6-0. 52-24. That would be the Cubs record, and total score against the Pirates, respectively. 29 of those runs came from the recent home series. I mean, the Cubs brought the Pirates to Wrigley, and in the words of Stu Scott, "Beat them like they stole something" (which they probably did, they're Pirates after all...) Anyway, over the past two days, the Cubs have just been teeing off on the Pirates pitchers. The Cubs are averaging 12.8 hits per game, 8.67 runs per game, and 7 homers by five different batters against the Pirates. But, maybe it's not just the Pirates. There's gotta be something in the water, because the Cubs are 7-3 in their last 10, all against Penn valley area teams (Cincy, Philly, and Pittsburgh). D-Lee went on a 6 game hitting streak, including three of his league leading seven homers, during that time starting at the beginning of the Phillies series. In pitching news, two starters got their first win, Jason Marquis, and Rich Hill earning the first win for the lefties.

Notables: Daryle Ward gets his first hit of the year on a 2-run shot in the seventh, the last two runs of the 13-1 shellacking on April 19.

Matt Murton makes his return (first time appearance this year) from Triple-A Iowa Cubs to the Major League lineup.

Alfonso Soriano (Strained Hamstring) slated to return on April 30.

Cubs first place, wha...?

Six Pitch Save

Nuff said.
W: Hill (1-0)
L: Snell (2-1)
H: Lieber (1), Marshall (1), Marmol (5)
SV: Wood (4)

Cubs score 23 total runs against the Reds

In three games, the Cubs outscored the Reds 23-17 with five homers hit by three different people (D-Lee hit one in each game of the series). And, in regard to my previous post, the moment I say something about the Cubs not playing small ball, they score 12 runs in 13 hits. Unfortunately, they were unable to complete the sweep, as the Reds returned the Cubs favor by scoring nine runs today. That loss keeps Ted Lilly winless at 0-3, and I'm really hoping that he's able to turn this around, otherwise, the Cubs are in trouble. In good news, the Cubs are playing three sub-.500 teams to end the month, so they should end the month with at least 4 more wins. That's about all for this post.
Next up: Pirates (4/18-4/20), Mets (4/21-4/22), @Rockies (4/23-4/24), @Nationals (4/25-4/27), Brewers (4/29-5/1), @Cardinals (5/2-5/4)
*Important games BOLDED

You can't quiet The Riot, You can't quiet the Cubs!

The Cubs welcomed Dusty Baker back to Wrigley Field for his first time as a manager after leaving the Cubs, and Dusty brought Cub-killer Aaron Harang and the Reds with him. The game was looking good all the way to the end of the end of the five pitch, first inning when Alfonso Soriano went down with a strained calf when he caught Griffey's inning ending fly ball. After that, during the whole game, the Cubs showed some explosive offensive firepower. They didn't score less than two runs in any inning when they scored. But still, 7 of the 9 runs were scored by home runs, showing that the Cubs are lacking some small ball scoring (not that that's a bad thing, who doesn't like to watch a home run, or two, or three...) The scoring began with a DeRosa blast, his third of the year, bringing in two runs. Derrek Lee celebrated his Jackie Robinson day in his #42 jersey, by stroking a three run shot, one of his three hits, in the fifth, making the score 5-3. Ryan Dempster made another great outing going 6 innings deep into the game, and the Lou brought in Marmol, and he promptly got himself into a jam, loading the bases. The Reds were able to push across a run on an RBI fielders choice on a brilliant stop by Theriot. And then, he forced an inning ending 3-6-3 Double Play. The Cubs help Marmol continue to cruise by pushing across two in the bottom of the seventh, helping him earn his fourth hold of the season, with two innings pitched, and 3 Ks. They would also continue to show their explosive offense with Ryan Theriot hitting a 2-run shot in the eighth, and it was looking like the Cubs would just cruise to the beginning of another extensive win streak. Then Michael Wuertz came into the game and gave a homer to dead centerfield on his first pitch to Joey Votto. Then he walks former Cub Paul Bako, and that's when Lou decides to pull him. He then brings in Kerry Wood, which I thought he should have done to start the ninth, and Woody quickly ends the game, giving Aaron Harang his first career loss at Wrigley Field. With that win, the Cubs moved into second place with a record of 8-5.
W: Ryan Dempster (2-0)
L: Aaron Harang (1-2)
H: Carlos Marmol (4)

4 days, 36 innings, 23 runs, and 18 pitching appearances later...

SWEEP! The Cubs do their part to "Redd Up" Pittsburgh, but the Cubs don't bring those horrible red vests, but they bring the brooms to PNC Park. For the first time in the Cubs' 2008 season, they complete a three game sweep, and push their win streak to 5 games. But, it wasn't easy. Game 1 was a 12 inning game, with Lilly only making it 3 2/3 innings. What's up with the leftys this year? Wuertz earns his first blown save of the year, Marmol getting his first save, and Jon Lieber gets his first win of the year, making his record 1-1.
And then, the Cubs obviously felt that 12 innings wasn't long enough, so they decided to push this game to 15 innings. The Cubs continue to show their lack of ability to hold on to their leads. A 2 run lead in the eighth, and let it go like a helium balloon. And then we get some more free baseball. We go four extras without a run, until the 14th, where Aramis Ramirez hits a two out 2-run HR. Of course, winning by hitting a homer would be to easy for the Cubs, and Kerry Wood gives up a two run shot to Adam LaRoche in the same inning. So, Felix Pie has to finish it up with a bases loaded 2 run RBI single. Kerry Wood gets his first blown save, Sean Marshall gets his first save, and Kevin Hart improves to 2-0.
Game 3. The Cubs decide to make it interesting for them to complete the sweep. They let Pittsburgh score three runs in the first inning, and Sweet Lou pulls Rich Hill after 3 innings. (Three's the magic number isn't it?) Anyway, the Cubs don't give up anymore runs for the rest of the game, but they floundered offensively for five innings still trailing 2-3 after 5. And then the sixth. They just open up a can offensively, scoring five runs, four of which off of home runs. A 2-run shot from Geovany Soto, his second of the year, and a 2-run shot from Mike Fontenot, his first of the year. Geo just needs one more home run to equal his total HR output from last year, already. Needless to say, the Cubs actually finish this one in 9 innings. Jon Lieber makes his second appearance in this series, getting his second win of the year, making him 2-1.
Next up: Phillies (4/11-4/13), Reds (4/15-4/17), Pirates (4/18-4/20), Mets (4/21-4/22)

Go Cubs Go! The story of a pack of thieves.

Once again, I know this is a day late, I do have stuff to do. Anyway, the Brewer fans brought their brooms to Wrigley expecting a sweep. Instead, converted starter to reliever to starter Ryan Dempster, went to the mound to start for the first time since 2005. The beginning of the game doesn't look too promising, as he gives up two runs in the first. But with a little help from the bottom 2/3 of the lineup, the Cubs tie it up in the second. From there on out, the Cubs continued to cruise and build on their lead with a big boost from an Aramis Ramirez homer in the fifth, his first of the year. Alfonso Soriano finally gets his first hit of the year, an RBI single to push the lead to 5-2 in the sixth. Four different Cubs had a steal in this game: Soriano, Pie, Fukudome, and Theriot. Kerry Wood gets his first career save in his first career save opportunity, so I'm not worried about what might happen with him as a closer. The Cubbies steal a win and don't get swept to begin the season, but it still doesn't look pretty.
W: Dempster (1-0)
L: Bush (0-1)
SV: Wood (1)

FUKUDOME!!!!

Seriously? I hope he never takes a day off and plays the same way he did today, everyday. He was given a rousing ovation, reminiscent of the Sosa days, as he ran out to right field, and proceeded to amaze the crowd. In his first official at-bat as a Cub, he hits a double off the centerfield wall. But, Fukudome wasn't the only big star on the field today, Carlos Zambrano was dominant as ever, going 5 2/3 innings, 3 hits, 5Ks, and 1 walk. That's about where the good stuff ends. Zambrano suffers from pain in his right forearm, resulting in him being pulled from the game, and Carlos Marmol going onto the hill. Carlos picks up where Carlos leaves off, going 1 1/3 innings, striking out the side in the eighth. Going into the ninth, the score is still 0-0, and closer Kerry Wood's going to the mound, getting ready to be lights out, as always. Not so. He singlehandedly attempts to put the game out of reach for the Cubs, by giving up three runs. We then go to the bottom of the ninth down 3-0 with the Brew Crew's new closer Eric Gagne on the mound. Gagne, as we all know, has been a dominant closer over his career. Well, today he was Eric Gag-me. This made me very happy as his stat line reads as so: 1 inning pitched, 3 hits, 3 runs, 1 BB, 1 HR, and an ERA of 27.00. That home run, was the curtain call for Fukudome's day as it was a three-run shot to right field sending Wrigley into pandemonium. Bob Howry goes to the mound, and promptly digs himself a hole, and loses the game. Oh well, 161 games to go...
W: Eric Gagne (1-0, BS:1)
L: Bob Howry (0-1)

2007 Year In Review

Seeing as how Opening Day is less than a week away, I decided to look back and review the 2007 Chicago Cubs.

• April

The Cubs begin their run for the World Series in Cincinnati, OH. They lose. They begin the season 3-3 in 6 consecutive road games. They then proceed to be technically swept by the 'stros, because game three was postponed. They go 2-5 on their first homestand, one of their worst home starts in Cubs history. They go to ATL for two days where they split a series with the Braves 1-1, and go back home to see the Redbirds. Cubs lose, fans boo.
Record: 9-14

• May

Better than April, but not by much. The highlight of this month was the Cubs 6-0 start, which included three consecutive home wins! (against the Nationals) But in the next week, that all began to tank. The losses kept piling up, and the Cubs end may with a monthly record of under .500 also, they finished 13-15.
Record: 22-29

• June

The Cubs once again threaten to be under .500 for the month, but they escape! This tear was sparked by Sweet Lou Piniella's ejection from the June, 2 game against the Braves. Lou's first and only ejection as a Chicago Cub. After that, what the Cubs did in June was inexplicable. This month included the Cubs-Astros make-up game from April. They also welcomed the Mariners to Wrigley Field, in which the Cubs won the series, 2-1. Also, the Cubs sweep the Chi-Sox on the South Side! They finish this month over .500 for the first time, 17-11! Despite their winning record for June, they barely miss being .500 for the season. Also, Alfonso Soriano was named MLB Player Of The Month.
Record:39-40

• July

July of course, welcomes the MLB All-Star Game, this year in San Francisco, CA. The Cubs finally climb above .500 to take a 44-43 record into the break. Two Cubs players, Alfonso Soriano and Derek Lee, where named to the NL All-Star team. Despite Soriano's attempt to spark a rally with a home run in the ninth, the NL still lose to the AL this year. The Cubs really roar coming out of the break going 12-6. Is this a playoff push I see? Hhmm...
Record:56-49

• August

No playoff push here, move it along... Cubs begin the month of August 4-10. Seriously, I think they try to avoid the playoffs sometimes. They follow up by going 8-6 and sweeping the Cards (again!). August 24, 2007 was a very important day for the Cubs organization. It was on this day, that they equaled the same number of wins from the previous season. The 2006 Cubs went 66-96, pitiful isn't it?
Record:68-65

• September

Despite being 68-65, they are actually in contention for the NL Central title! They need to win the Central, because nobody from the Central has the chance of getting the Wild Card. It's either win the division, or nothing. The Cubs go 17-12 in the month of September, and clinch the division September 29, 2007 in Cincinnati on the second to last day of the regular season. The Brewers tried hard to keep the Cubs out of the postseason, but they choke (HA!) right at the end of the month. Just like the Mets (sorry, I couldn't help myself).
Record:85-77