Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Cubs get first win, in Extras!

Chicago (AP)-Alfonso Soriano came up big today in the 10th inning with an RBI single that scored Starlin Castro with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Kerry Wood picked up his first win of the year after shutting the D-Backs down in the top of the 10th.

ARI at CHC - Wrigley Field
Apr 5, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Extras	R	H	E
Arizona Diamondbacks (2-1)	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	12	0
Chicago Cubs (0-3)	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	0	0	1	6	13	0
W: Wood (1-0) L: Gutierrez (0-1)

Arizona Diamondbacks
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Upton	5	0	2	0	0	0		.391
Johnson	5	0	0	0	0	1		.095
Montero	5	0	0	0	0	1		.173
Branyan	5	2	2	0	0	2		.318
Drew	5	1	2	2	0	1		.380
Nady	4	0	2	1	0	1		.400
Mora	3	1	1	0	0	1		.500
Young	4	1	2	2	0	2		.238
Galarraga	3	0	0	0	0	1		.000
Bloomquist	1	0	0	0	0	1		.400
Roberts	1	0	1	0	0	0		.600
Blanco	1	0	0	0	0	1		.000
BATTING: 3B: Young HR: Drew, Young RBI: Drew 2, Nady, Young 2

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Castro	5	1	1	0	0	1		.400
Fukudome	3	1	2	1	1	0		.300
Byrd	4	1	1	1	1	0		.300
Pena	4	1	1	1	0	0		.250
Soriano	5	1	3	1	0	2		.523
Soto	4	0	2	2	0	0		.250
Baker	0	0	0	0	0	0		.285
Scales	3	0	1	0	1	1		.333
DeWitt	4	0	0	0	0	0		.200
Cashner	2	0	0	0	0	1		.000
Colvin	2	1	2	0	0	0		.500
Ramirez	1	0	0	0	0	1		.235
BATTING: 3B: Soto (1) HR: Pena (4), Soriano (2) RBI: Fukudome (3), Byrd (5), Pena (5), Soriano (2), Soto 2 (2) HBP: Pena
BASERUNNING: SB: Fukudome 2 (3), Byrd (1), Soriano (6) CS: Byrd, Colvin

Arizona Diamondbacks
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Galarraga	6.0	9	4	4	2	2		6.00
Mickolio (BS,1)	0.2	2	1	1	0	1		9.00
Vasquez	1.1	1	0	0	0	2		0.00
Gutierrez (L, 0-1)	1.0	1	1	1	1	1		4.50

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Cashner	7.0	9	5	5	0	5		6.42
Grabow	2.0	3	0	0	0	4		0.00
Wood (W, 1-0)	1.0	0	0	0	0	3		0.00

Cubs Corner: Jeff Baker went down with an injury in the first inning... Bobby Scales who had just gotten to the clubhouse was inserted into the lineup... Baker will be out for a couple of days with a muscle strain...Marlon Byrd and Carlos Pena both hit their 5th RBI...Pena hit his 4th Home Run of the season...

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Quick Rundown of the Next 4 games.

Im looking forward to the next few games so not going to Post the full Boxscore for each game.

April 6
Cubs 0
Arizona 1

W: Daniel Hudson, L: Ryan Dempster

April 8
Cubs 5
Brewers 2

W: Zambrano, L: Marcum

April 9
Cubs 2
Brewers 3

W: Wolf, L: Garza

April 10
Cubs 6
Brewers 1

W: Wells, L: Narveson

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

League Roundup

4/4-4/3 Transactions
Chicago Cubs
4/4 Optioned RP, Esmaliin Caridad to Triple A
4/4 Purchesd the Contract of 3B, Bobby Scales from Triple A

Chicago White Sox
4/9 Placed SP, Jeffry Marquez on the 15 Day DL (Strained Pectoral)
4/9 Purshed the contract of RP, Brian Bruney from Triple A

New York Mets
4/5 Placed SS, Jose Reyes on 15 Day DL (ACL Sprain)
4/5 Recalled SS, Ruben Tejada from Triple A

Texas Rangers
4/9 Placed LF, Josh Hamilton on the 15 Day DL (Broken Forearm)
4/9 Recalled CF Engel Beltre from Triple A

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Series Preview
April 11-13
Chicago Cubs (3-6) @ Houston Astros (5-4)
Probable Pitchers

Game 1:
CHC: Andrew Cashner (0-0), 6.43 ERA, 5K
HOU: Nelson Figueroa (0-0), 3.00 ERA, 3K
Game 2:
CHC: Ryan Dempster (0-2), 2.30 ERA, 12K
HOU: Wandy Rodriguez (0-1), 3.86 ERA, 7K
Game 3:
CHC: Carlos Zambrano (1-0), 3.68 ERA, 5K
HOU: Brett Myers (1-0), 3.46 ERA, 6K

NL Central Standings going into the series

MLB Standings - Updated: Apr 11, 2011
NL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Cardinals	6	3
Astros	5	4	1.0
Reds	4	5	2.0
Brewers	4	6	2.5
Cubs	3	6	3.0
Pirates	3	7	3.5

Cubs Stats going into the series

2011 Chicago Cubs Stats - Hitting
NAME	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
S. Castro	38	5	12	0	1	0	2	0	11	6	0	.316	.316	.368
K. Fukudome	33	3	8	0	1	1	4	1	4	3	0	.242	.257	.394
A. Soriano	33	4	13	2	0	2	2	0	6	7	0	.394	.394	.636
M. Byrd	32	6	10	1	0	4	7	1	6	1	1	.313	.333	.719
A. Ramirez	32	4	7	1	0	4	5	0	5	0	0	.219	.219	.625
C. Pena	32	6	7	1	1	5	6	1	10	0	0	.219	.265	.781
G. Soto	26	0	6	0	1	0	2	0	7	0	0	.231	.231	.308
B. Dewitt	17	0	3	1	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	.176	.222	.235
T. Colvin	13	2	6	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	2	.462	.462	.692
J. Baker	13	3	5	1	0	0	1	1	3	0	0	.385	.429	.462
K. Hill	10	3	2	0	0	1	3	1	2	0	0	.200	.273	.500
D. Barney (DL)	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000	.000	.000
R. Johnson	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	.000	.000	.000
B. Scales	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	.333	.500	.333

2011 Chicago Cubs Stats - Pitching
NAME	GP	GS	W	L	SV	QS	HLD	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	ERA
K. Wood	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	3.0	1	0	0	0	6	0.33	0.00
R. Dempster	2	2	0	2	0	2	0	15.2	11	4	0	0	12	0.70	2.30
C. Zambrano	2	2	1	0	0	1	0	14.2	11	6	1	0	5	0.75	3.68
M. Garza	2	2	0	2	0	1	0	9.1	20	7	2	1	7	2.25	6.75
R. Wells	2	2	1	1	0	1	0	15.0	22	10	4	0	14	1.47	6.00
S. Marshall	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	4.1	4	3	2	0	2	0.92	6.23
J. Stevens	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.1	3	2	1	1	2	1.71	7.71
J. Grabow	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.2	3	0	0	0	4	1.13	0.00
J. Russell	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.0	1	0	0	0	3	0.33	0.00
A. Cashner	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	7.0	9	5	2	0	5	1.29	6.43
J. Samardzija	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.0	4	3	1	0	1	4.00	27.00
C. Marmol	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Cubs Rout Astros with big 8th/9th Innings.

Houston (AP)- In a game that featured plenty of long balls the Cubs came out on top. Carlos Pena led the Cubs with 2 Home Runs and 3 RBIs along with Alfonso Soriano who went 4-5 with 4 runs scored. Sean Marshall came in in relief of Andrew Cashner who gave up 4 runs in 6 innings of work. Marshall pitched a scoreless 7th and got the win. Kerry Wood came in in the setup role but ended up with the save as the Cubs scored 4 in the 9th inning in game one against the Astros.

Cubs Corner: Yet another chance at a save for Carlos Marmol that goes out the door, he is yet to appear in a game and is allegedly asking to start the next game just so his arm can get some use….. Marlon Byrd extended his hitting streak to 9 games today…. The Astros were forced to use 6 different pitchers which could cause problems later on in the series while the Cubs were only forced to use three….The Cubs got their first outfield assist of the year from Koske Fukudome on a line drive in the first inning that he was able to throw out Michael Bourn at the plate to keep the game 0-0.

CHC at HOU -
Jan 1,	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs (3-6)	0	2	0	1	1	0	0	2	4	10	17	1
Houston Astros (5-4)	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	8	3
W: Sean Marshall (1-1) L: Wilton Lopez (1-1) S: Kerry Wood (1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	HOU
	2	Carlos Pena, Solo Home Run to Right Field	1	0
	2	Blake Dewitt, RBI Single, Soriano Scores	2	0
	2	Carlos Lee, Solo Home Run to Left Field	2	1
	4	Alfonso Soriano, Solo Home Run to Left Field	3	1
	5	Starlin Castro, RBI Single, Fukudome Scores	4	1
	6	Bill Hall, 3 Run Home Run to Left Field, Pence and Johnson Score	4	4
	8	Carlos Pena, Solo Home Run to Left Field	5	4
	8	Jeff Baker, RBI Single, Soriano Scores	6	4
	9	Fukudome Scores on an error by Bill Hall, Castro to 3rd, Byrd to 2nd	7	4
	9	Starlin Castro Scores on Sac Fly by Aramis Ramirez, Byrd to 3rd	8	4
	9	Carlos Pena, RBI Single, Byrd Scores	9	4
	9	Geovany Soto, RBI Single, Soriano Scores	10	4

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	5	2	2	0	0	0		.263
Castro	4	1	1	1	1	0		.309
Byrd	5	1	1	0	0	1		.297
Ramirez	4	0	1	1	0	0		.222
Pena	5	2	3	3	0	0		.270
Soriano	5	4	4	1	0	0		.447
Soto	4	0	2	1	0	1		.266
DeWitt	3	0	1	1	0	1		.200
Baker	2	0	1	1	0	1		.400
Cashner	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
Colvin	1	0	1	0	0	0		.500
Johnson	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
TEAM TOTALS	40	10	17	9	1	4
BATTING: HR: Pena 2 (6,7), Soriano (3) RBI: Pena 3 (7,8,9), DeWitt (1), Soriano (3), Castro (3), Baker (2), Ramirez (6), Soto (3) 2B: Soriano (3), Byrd (2) SF: Ramirez SAC: Soto, Cashner GIDP: DeWitt
BASERUNNING: SB: Fukudome 2 (4,5), Colvin (2), Castro (7)
FIELDING: E: Dewitt (1) Assist: Fukudome (1)

Houston Astros
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bourn	4	0	1	0	0	0		.292
Pence	4	1	1	0	0	0		.222
Johnson	4	1	1	0	0	1		.264
Lee	4	1	1	1	0	1		.243
Wallace	4	0	0	0	0	1		.111
Hall	4	1	1	3	0	2		.258
Barmes	4	0	1	0	0	1		.314
Castro	3	0	1	0	0	1		.275
Figueroa	1	0	0	0	0	0		.333
Sanchez	1	0	1	0	0	0		.222
Keppinger	1	0	0	0	0	0		.363
TEAM TOTALS	34	4	8	4	0	7
BATTING: HR: Lee, Hall 2B: Johnson, Castro RBI: Lee, Hall 3 GIDP: Pence
BASERUNNING: SB: Bourn CS: Pence
FIELDING: E: Bourn, Wallace, Hall

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Cashner	6.0	8	4	4	0	5		6.23
Marshall (W, 1-1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0		5.06
Wood (S, 1)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	8	4	4	0	7

Houston Astros
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Figueroa	5.0	8	4	4	0	3		4.90
Fulchino	2.0	2	0	0	0	0		7.36
Lopez (L, 1-1)	0.1	2	2	2	0	0		4.50
Wright	0.2	1	0	0	0	0		2.07
Arias	0.0	1	3	2	1	0		13.50
Rodriguez	1.0	3	1	0	0	1		0.00

Cubs Moves after the game:
DJ Le Mahieu, 2B, Promoted To Triple A Iowa
Nate Sampson, SS, Promoted to Triple A Iowa
Bryan LaHair, LF, Demoted to Double A Tennessee
John Gaub, RP, Demoted to Double A Tennessee
Junior Lake, SS, Promoted to Double A Tennessee
Mathew Spencer, LF, Demoted to Single A Daytona

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Cubs take Game 2 in Houston
Houston (AP)-In game two of the 3 game series the Cubs routed the Astros 7-1. Both teams were in double digits in hits but the Cubs were better able to capitalize on those hits throughout the game. Player of the Game Ryan Dempster held the Astros scoreless for 6 innings until an inside the park home run by Juan Castro was given up. Dempster picks up his first win of the season even though his ERA is under 2.00. On the losing end is Wandy Rodriguez who gave up 6 earned runs in just 4 and 2/3 innings of work.


Cubs Corner: The Astros were out of relief pitching and were forced to use their closer in the 8th inning in a game they were losing….Carlos Marmol made his first appearance of the season in a non-save situation and struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced….Marlon Byrd extended his hitting streak to 10 games…..Jeff Baker extended his hitting streak to 6 games….Carlos Pena becomes the first player to reach double digit RBI’s on the team….The inside the park home run was a ball that went by Marlon Byrd up the hill in center field and almost got the runner at the plate…Game 3 is scheduled for 7:05 tomorrow night in Houston.

CHC at HOU - Minute Maid Park
Apr 12, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs ()	2	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	7	15
Houston Astros ()	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	12	2
W: Dempster (1-2) L: Rodriguez (0-2)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	HOU
	1	Byrd, RBI Single, Fukudome Scores	1	0
	1	Pena, RBI Single, Byrd Scores	2	0
	3	Baker, RBI Double, Fukudome Scores	3	0
	3	Pena, RBI Single, Baker Scores	4	0
	5	Ramirez and Soriano Score on dropped 3rd strike throw over the first baseman's head.	6	0
	5	Dewitt, RBI Double, Soto Score	7	0
	7	Jason Castro, Inside the Park Home Run to center	7	1

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	5	2	3	0	0	1		.302
Baker	5	1	1	1	0	3		.350
Byrd	5	1	2	1	0	1		.310
Pena	5	0	3	2	0	1		.310
Ramirez	5	1	1	0	0	2		.220
Soriano	5	1	2	0	0	2		.442
Soto	3	1	0	0	1	2		.242
Hill	1	0	0	0	0	0		.182
Dewitt	4	0	1	1	0	0		.208
Dempster	3	0	1	0	0	0		.125
Colvin	1	0	1	0	0	0		.533
TEAM TOTALS	42	7	15	5	1	12
BATTING: RBI: Byrd (8), Pena 2 (10,11), Baker (3), Dewitt (2) 2B: Baker (2), Dewitt (2), Pena (2) GIDP: Ramirez
BASERUNNING: SB: Fukudome 2 (6,7) CS: Dewitt (1)

Houston Astros
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bourn	5	0	2	0	0	0		.304
Pence	4	0	0	0	0	4		.200
Johnson	4	0	0	0	0	2		.237
Lee	4	0	2	0	0	1		.268
Wallace	4	0	2	0	0	0		.150
Hall	4	0	1	0	0	1		.257
Barmes	4	0	2	0	0	1		.333
Castro	4	1	3	1	0	1		.333
Rodriguez	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
Sanchez	1	0	0	0	0	0		.200
Keppinger	1	0	0	0	0	0		.333
Quintero	1	0	0	0	0	1		.200
BATTING: 2B: Lee (2), Hall (4) HR: Castro (1) RBI: Castro (3) GIDP: Hall
BASERUNNING: CS: Barmes (2)
FIELDING: E: Barmes (4), Castro (1)

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Demptster (W, 1-2)	7.0	10	1	1	0	9		1.99
Samardzija	1.0	1	0	0	0	0		13.50
Marmol	1.0	1	0	0	0	2		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	12	1	1	0	11

Houston Astros
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Rodriguez (L, 0-2)	4.2	9	7	6	1	8		6.06
Lopez	0.1	1	0	0	0	0		4.15
Melancon	2.0	1	0	0	0	3		4.26
Lyon	2.0	4	0	0	0	1		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	15	7	6	1	12
PITCHING: WP: Rodriguez (1)

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Cubs Sweep Astros in Houston, get to .500

Houston (AP)- The Cubs blew the Astros away yet again in Houston, this time a 10-3 score was the final decision with Cubs Ace Carlos Zambrano getting his second win of the season while Houston Hurler Brett Myers was forced to make a quick exit. The Cubs ended the game with an even 20 hits and continue their offensive output. The Cubs now have a day off to make their way to Colorado to face off against the Rockies, the game is scheduled for a 6:40 Start Time!

Cubs Corner: This is the first time the Cubs have been .500 or better since the first day of the season…The Cubs are on a 4 game winning streak…The Wins move the Cubs to 2nd place in the NL central behind the St. Louis Cardinals…Alfonso Soriano continues his hot streak and is the league leader in batting average (.437) 2nd place is Rockies Center Fielder Dexter Fowler (.422), Soriano also leads the league in hits (21)…Carlos Pena despite his 0-5 game leads the league in Homers (7)…. The Cubs are the top 3 in stolen bases, Castro (8), Fukudome and Soriano (7)…. Marlon Byrd extended his hitting streak to 11 games and Jeff Baker extended his to 7.

CHC at HOU - Minute Maid Park
Apr 13, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs ()	0	0	4	5	1	0	0	0	0	10	20	1
Houston Astros ()	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	1
W: Zambrano (2-0) L: Myers (1-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	HOU
	2	Throwing Error by Castro, Lee Scores	0	1
	2	Castro RBI single to right, Barmes Scores	0	2
	3	Castro RBI single to left, Zambrano Scores, Fukudome Scores	2	2
	3	Byrd RBI Double to left, Castro Scores	3	2
	3	Soriano RBI Single to Left, Byrd Scores	4	2
	3	Lee RBI Triple to Right Center, Wallace Scores	4	3
	4	Zambrano RBI Single to Center, Baker Scores	5	3
	4	Fukudome, 2 Run Home Run to Right Field, Zambrano Scores	7	3
	4	Castro, Solo Home Run to Left Field	8	3
	4	Soto, RBI Single to Center, Byrd Scores	9	3
	5	Castro, RBI Single to Center, Zambrano Scores	10	3

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	5	2	3	2	0	0		.333
Castro	5	2	4	4	0	0		.362
Byrd	5	2	4	1	0	0		.362
Pena	5	0	0	0	0	0		.277
Soriano	5	0	2	1	0	0		.437
Soto	5	0	1	1	0	0		.237
Dewitt	5	0	1	0	0	0		.207
Baker	5	1	2	0	0	1		.360
Zambrano	3	3	3	1	1	0		.714
Johnson	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
TEAM TOTALS	44	10	20	10	1	1
BATTING: 2B: Fukudome 2 (1,2), Byrd (3), Dewitt (3) HR: Fukudome (2), Castro (1) RBI: Zambrano (1), Fukudome 2 (5,6), Castro 4 (4,5,6,7), Byrd (9), Soriano (4), Soto (4) GIDP: Pena, Soriano, Johnson
BASERUNNING: SB: Castro (8)
FIELDING: E: Castro (3)

Houston Astros
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bourn	4	0	0	0	0	3		.280
Wallace	4	1	2	0	0	0		.182
Johnson	4	0	1	0	0	0		.238
Lee	4	1	2	1	0	0		.289
Hall	4	0	1	0	0	1		.256
Barmes	4	1	0	1	0	0		.302
Castro	3	0	1	1	0	0		.333
Sanchez	1	0	0	0	0	0		.182
Michaels	4	0	1	0	0	1		.182
Myers	1	0	0	0	0	1		.000
Pence	1	0	1	0	0	0		.220
Quintero	2	0	0	0	0	1		.143
TEAM TOTALS	36	3	9	3	0	7
BATTING: 2B: Hall (5) 3B: Lee (1) RBI: Lee (4), Barmes (2), Castro (4) GIDP: Lee
BASERUNNING: SB: Lee (1)
FIELDING: E: Johnson (1) PB: Castro (1)

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Zambrano (W, 2-0)	7.0	9	3	2	0	6		3.32
Stevens	2.0	0	0	0	0	1		4.15

Houston Astros
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Myers (L, 1--1)	3.1	10	7	7	0	0		6.61
Lopes	0.2	4	2	2	0	0		7.20
Arias	2.0	1	1	1	1	0		9.64
Wright	1.0	1	0	0	0	1		1.69
Rodriguez	2.0	4	0	0	0	0		0.00

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

League Roundup

4/10-4/14 Transactions

Chicago White Sox
4/12 Place SP, Jake Peavy on the 15 Day DL (Strained Pectoral)
4/12 Recalled SP, Lucas Harrell from Triple A Charlotte

Los Angeles Dodgers
4/14 Activated 2B, Aaron Miles from the DL
4/14 Optioned 2B, Ivan De Jesus to Triple A Albuquerque

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Series Preview
Cubs (6-6) @ Rockies (9-4)

Game 1
CHC: Matt Garza (0-2), 6.75 ERA
COL: Aaron Cook (1-0), 1.98 ERA

Game 2
CHC: Randy Wells (1-1), 6.00 ERA
COL: Jason Hammel (2-0), 0.69 ERA

Game 3
CHC: Andrew Cashner (0-0), 6.23 ERA
COL: Ubaldo Jimenez (1-0), 1.54 ERA

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Do you smell what the ROCK(ies) are COOKING?

Denver (AP)- Today Aaron Cook all but shut down the Chicago Cubs at home. Cook took a perfect game into the fifth inning where he issued a 6 pitch walk to Carlos Pena. He took a no hitter into the 6th where he gave up a bloop single to Blake Dewitt and he took a shutout to the 8th when he gave up a 2 run homer to Geovany Soto. Overall Cook walked away with the win even though he didn’t have his strike out pitch working (only struck out 2). Matt Garza didn’t pitch badly for the Cubs but two of his own errors cost the team 2 runs in the first inning.

Cubs Corner: Marlon Byrd’s hit streak ends at 11….Dewitt had two of the Cubs 5 Hits….Garza committed his first two errors of the season on two dribblers hit back to him….Jeff Samardzija came in and threw 3 innings of no hit baseball in relief of Garza….Houston Street looked shaky despite getting the save, he took 7 or more pitched to get 2 of the 3 outs in the 9th… Tomorrows game is scheduled for 6:10 pm at Coors Field. Randy Wells faces off against Jason Hammel.

CHC at COL - Coors Field
Apr 15, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs (6-6)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	5	2
Colorado Rockies (9-4)	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	X	4	5	0
W: Cook (2-0) L: Garza (0-3) S: Street (5)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	COL
	1	Error on Matt Garza allows Fowler to Score	1	0
	1	Stewart RBI Single to center, Helton Scores	2	0
	3	Smith RBI Double to Right Center, Tulowitzki scores	3	0
	5	Gonzalez, Solo Home Run to Right	4	0
	8	Soto, 2 Run Home Run to Left, Soriano Scores	4	2

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	4	0	0	0	0	0		.308
Castro	4	0	0	0	0	0		.333
Byrd	3	0	0	0	0	2		.340
Pena	2	0	1	0	1	0		.286
Ramirez	3	0	0	0	0	0		.205
Soriano	3	1	1	2	0	0		.244
DeWitt	3	0	2	0	0	0		.250
Garza	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
Colvin	1	0	0	0	0	0		.500
Johnson	1	0	0	0	0	1		.000
TEAM TOTALS	28	2	5	2	1	3
BATTING: 2B: Dewitt (4) HR: Soto (1) RBI: Soto 2 (5,6) GIDP: Ramirez 2, Colvin
BASERUNNING: SB: Soriano (8)
FIELDING: E: Garza 2 (1,2)

Colorado Rockies
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fowler	4	1	1	0	0	0		.396
Helton	3	1	0	0	1	1		.297
Tulowitzki	3	1	0	0	1	2		.351
Gonzalez	4	1	1	1	0	1		.229
Smith	4	0	1	1	0	1		.241
Stewart	4	0	1	1	0	0		.314
Lopez	3	0	0	0	0	0		.250
Morales	3	0	1	0	0	0		.259
Cook	3	0	0	0	0	1		.111
BATTING: 2B: Smith (1) HR: Gonzalez (1) RBI: Gonzalez (2), Steward (11), Smith (7)

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Garza (L, 0-3)	5.0	5	4	3	2	3		6.28
Samardzija	3.0	0	0	0	0	3		5.40
TEAM TOTALS	8.0	5	4	3	2	6

Colorado Rockies
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Cook (W, 2-0)	8.0	5	2	2	1	2		2.08
Street (S, 5)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1		1.69

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Cubs Rock Denver and Rockies.

Denver (AP)- The Cubs tied the Series up today at 1 game apiece as they defeated the Rockies 6-4. The Cubs were led by Carlos Pena and Geovany Soto who had 5 of the 6 RBI’s for the team. The other came in the top of the 9th while the Cubs were looking for an insurance run, Fukudome led off the inning with a triple and Castro proceeded to put the next pitch on the ground on a suicide squeeze that worked perfectly. Randy Wells picks up his 2nd win on the season while Jason Hammel takes his first loss. Carlos Marmol appeared in his first save situation and recorded his first save after getting a crucial double play ball after allowing a hit to lead off the inning.

Cubs Corner: Pena picked up his team high 13th RBI….The Cubs executed their first suicide squeeze of the season to perfection…The Cubs move back to .500 before the rubber match….Randy Wells has an era of 5.57 and still has picked up 2 wins…Eric Young Jr, giving Dexter Fowler a break today was a home run away from the cycle, unfortunately for him his single came in the bottom of the 9th…The Rubber match is at 1:10 pm tomorrow afternoon and will feature Andrew Cashner and last season’s darling Ubaldo Jimenez.

CHC at COL - Coors Field
Apr 1, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs ()	1	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	1	6	14	0
Colorado Rockies ()	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	0	4	12	0
W: Wells (2-1) L: S: Marmol (1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	COL
	1	Carlos Pena, RBI Single to Center, Byrd Scores	1	0
	3	Todd Helton, RBI Single to Left, Young JR. Scores	1	1
	4	Geovany Soto, 2 RBI single to Center, Pena scores, Ramirez scores	3	1
	6	Carlos Pena, RBI Double to Left, Byrd Scores	4	1
	6	Geovany Soto, RBI Single to Center, Pena Scores	5	1
	6	Seth Smith, RBI Single to Right, Helton Scores	5	2
	7	Dexter Fowler, Sax Fly to Right, Lopez Scores	5	3
	8	Ty Wiggington, RBI Single to Center, Tulowitzki scores.	5	4
	9	Starlin Castro, Suicide Squeeze RBI, Fukudome Scores	6	4

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	5	1	2	0	0	1		.316
Castro	4	0	0	1	0	0		.309
Byrd	5	2	2	0	0	2		.345
Pena	5	2	4	2	0	0		.333
Ramirez	4	1	1	0	0	2		.208
Soriano	4	0	0	0	0	1		.400
Soto	4	0	3	3	0	0		.289
DeWitt	3	0	1	0	0	0		.257
Wells	3	0	1	0	0	1		.250
Colvin	1	0	0	0	0	0		.471
TEAM TOTALS	38	6	14	6	0	7
BATTING: 2B: Byrd 2 (4,5), Ramirez (2), Pena (3) 3B: Fukudome (2) RBI: Castro (8), Pena 2 (12,13), Soto 3 (7,8,9) SAC: Castro, Dewitt

Colorado Rockies
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Young Jr.	5	1	3	0	0	0		.308
Helton	5	1	2	1	0	1		.310
Tulowitzki	4	1	1	0	0	0		.344
Stewart	4	0	1	0	0	1		.309
Smith	4	0	1	1	0	2		.242
Wigginton	4	0	2	1	0	1		.243
Lopez	4	1	1	0	0	0		.250
Morales	4	0	1	0	0	0		.258
Hammel	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
Gonzalez	1	0	0	0	0	0		.224
Fowler	0	0	0	1	0	0		.396
Spilborghs	1	0	0	0	0	0		.300
TEAM TOTALS	37	4	12	4	0	5
BATTING: 2B: Helton (1), Lopez (2), Young JR. (1) 3B: Young Jr. (1) RBI: Fowler (13), Helton (5), Wigginton (3), Smith (8) SF: Fowler GIDP: Lopez, Spilborghs

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wells (W, 2-1)	6.0	6	3	3	0	3		5.57
Marshall (H, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0		4.26
Wood (H, 1)	1.0	3	1	1	0	1		1.50
Marmol (S, 1)	1.0	2	0	0	0	1		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	12	4	4	0	5

Colorado Rockies
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hammel (L, 2-1)	5.0	6	3	3	0	3		2.00
Belisle	1.0	5	2	2	0	2		4.50
F. Morales	1.0	1	0	0	0	1		8.10
Lindstrom	1.1	2	1	1	0	0		3.38
Daley	0.2	0	0	0	0	1		8.31
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	14	6	6	0	7

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Game 3:

Cubs 0
Rockies 5

I Had a full report typed up but my computer decided it wanted to shut down.

Jiminez pitched 8 innings, Cashner went 4 and gave up 5 in the 5th before he was taken out.


Starting with the Next game report I am going to try and work in some pictures and maybe even a video if everything goes well.

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Series Preview

April 18-20

San Diego Padres (7-8) @ Chicago Cubs (7-8)

Game 1
SD: Mat Latos (2-0), 2.45 ERA, 17K
CHC: Ryan Dempster (1-2), 1.99 ERA, 21K

Game 2
SD: Clayton Richard (0-1), 4.91 ERA, 4K
CHC: Carlos Zambrano (2-0), 3.32 ERA, 11K

Game 3
SD: Tim Stauffer (1-1), 7.62 ERA, 11K
CHC: Matt Garza (0-3), 6.28 ERA, 10K

Prediction: My prediction is that the Cubs win Game 2 while the Padres win Game 3, the determing factor of who wins the Series will be based on who wins game 1.

Who To Watch For:
For San Diego:
3B, Chase Headly is batting .333 with 3 Homers and 6 RBI's in his last 10 games.
1B, Brad Hawpe is batting .303 with 5 homers and 9 RBI's in his last 10 games.
RF, Will Venable is hitting a solid .366 with 1 Homer and 4 RBI's in his last 10 games.

For Chicago:
CF, Marlon Byrd who is hitting .349 with 1 homer and 5 RBI's in his last 10 games
1B, Carlos Pena who is hitting a incredible .368 with 3 homers and 8 RBI's in his last 10 games.

Who To Go After:
For San Diego:
LF, Ryan Ludwick is hitting only .176 over his last 10 games with 6 hits, though 3 of those hits have been home runs.

For Chicago:
3B, Aramis Ramirez who is hitting only .194 over his last 10 games with 7 hits, though 3 of those hits have been home runs.

[Getty51]

Re: Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

Note: If the pictures aren't working I will keep trying.


Dempster is stellar against Padres


Cubs win Pitcher’s Duel that allows only 3 hits in the game!

Chicago (AP)- Ryan Dempster was on fire today, not only did he pitch 8 innings of shut out baseball but he only gave up one hit the entire game, not to mention he struck out 10 batters in the game. Dempster solidifies the decision to have him designated as the teams ace with another stellar performance. His counterpart Mat Latos also only allowed 1 hit in his 7 innings of work but unfortunately for him that hit was a big fly from Alfonso Soriano in the 2nd inning. Both pitchers were taken out of the game to try in add some offense to the game in order to help their team. Carlos Marmol was able to come in and get a 4 batter save after walking the leadoff batter on 5 pitches.

Cubs Corner:Dempster issued 2 walks today, the most by any Cubs pitcher all year….Marmol has 2 saves in as many opportunities….Ryan Dempster gave up his only hit in the 5th inning for Cameron Maybin, Maybin was later pinch hit for before his next at bat….Dempster threw 112 pitches on the game and Mike Quade was hesitant about taking him out in order to let him finish his own game but later decided to put Marmol in.

SDG at CHC - Wrigley Field
Apr 18, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego Padres (7-8)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Chicago Cubs (7-8)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
W: Dempster (2-2) L: Latos (2-1) S: Marmol (2)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			SDG	CHC
	2	Alfonso Soriano, Solo Home Run To Center	0	1

San Diego Padres
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bartlett	3	0	0	0	1	2		.206
Hudson	3	0	0	0	0	1		.254
Venable	3	0	0	0	1	1		.316
Ludwick	3	0	0	0	1	1		.218
Hawpe	3	0	0	0	0	1		.304
Headley	3	0	0	0	0	2		.344
Maybin	2	0	1	0	0	1		.255
Cantu	1	0	0	0	0	0		.250
Hundley	3	0	0	0	0	1		.187
Latos	2	0	0	0	0	1		.125
Denorfia	1	0	0	0	0	0		.333
TEAM TOTALS	27	0	1	0	3	11
BATTING: SAC: Hudson
FIELDING: E: Bartlett (2)

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	3	0	0	0	0	0		.281
Castro	3	0	0	0	0	0		.290
Byrd	3	0	0	0	0	0		.323
Pena	3	0	0	0	0	3		.311
Ramirez	3	0	0	0	0	1		.200
Soriano	3	1	1	1	0	1		.387
Soto	3	0	1	0	0	1		.280
Dewitt	3	0	0	0	0	1		.220
Dempster	2	0	0	0	0	0		.100
Colvin	1	0	0	0	0	0		.421
TEAM TOTALS	27	1	2	1	0	7
BATTING: HR: Soriano (4) RBI: Soriano (5)
BASERUNNING: SB: Johnson (2)

San Diego Padres
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Latos (L, 2-1)	7.0	1	1	1	0	5		2.13
Qualls	1.0	1	0	0	0	2		1.13
TEAM TOTALS	8.0	2	1	1	0	7

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Dempster (W, 2-2)	8.0	1	0	0	2	10		1.47
Marmol (S, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	1	1		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	1	0	0	3	11

Edit: For some reason the video isn't working... If anyone knows why please let me know. Otherwise just click on the 2nd and it will take you to the video that works. Thank You