The Pirates deserved every bit of their 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. Jason Bay had one heck of a game going 2-4 with a home run and 4 rbi's. Carlos Zambrano pitched well but the offense didn't back him up. The Cubs once again got off to a quick 1-0 lead but that would be the last time they would lead in this game. The Pirates scored 3 in the 3rd capped off by a Jason Bay home run. The Cubs then scored one in the 6th but failed to tie the game. In the 8th Bobby Howry gave up 3 runs almost giving the game to the Pirates and the Cubs failed to rally in the 9th. The good news today is the Nationals beat the Brewers by a score of 7-2. With that Brewer loss the Cubs go into the All-Star break 4.5 behind them for the National League Central division lead. As I am typing this the Dodgers are killing the Marlins 8-0 in the 2nd. If the Dodgers hang on the Cubs will move to 4 games behind them in the National League wild card chase. The Cubs now get 3 big days off before playing the Astros next Friday in Chicago. Monday is the State Farm Home Run Derby on ESPN and Tuesday is the All-Star Game on FOX. Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano will represent the Cubs at the game. Finally, I noticed that the scoring bug on Comcast SportsNet looked different today. I am wondering if anyone else noticed this as well.
This is the last game before the All-Star break so this would be a huge win for the Chicago Cubs. Carlos Zambrano has been hot ever since his fight with Ex-Cub Michael Barrett on June 1st. Zambrano just missed out on making the All-Star game when he landed 2nd in the Final Vote. Hopefully the Cubs can end their home run drought of over 1 week. (They haven't hit a homer since Aramis' walk off last Friday)
Cubs 7 Pirates 1 A day of 7's from PNC Park on 07/07/07. The Cubs scored 7 runs on this lucky day behind a great outing by Ted Lilly. The Cubs beat the Pirates by a score of 7-1. Daryle Ward got the start in RF and had a good game going 1-3 with an RBI. The Cubs scored 2 quick runs in the first inning thanks to 5 hits. The Cubs also scored 3 in the 3rd and 2 in the 5th giving them a 7 run lead and they never looked back after that. The Cubs are now 4-2 on this road trip and are looking to go 5-2 with a win tomorrow. In other good news, the Nationals beat the Brewers 5-4 meani the Cubs now trail the Brewers by 4.5 games in the NL Central. The Brewers are struggling losing 4 of their last 6 games making it a 2-4 road trip while the Cubs have a 4-2 road trip.
Stud of the Day: Ted Lilly 7.1 innings pitched, 8 hits allowed, 1 earned run, 6 K's.
6:05 p.m. CT TV: WGN Radio: WGN 720 After a tough loss yesterday the Cubs need to fight back and get a win tonight versus the Pirates.
Pitchers: Lilly 7-4, 3.84 Ted Lilly has had a great season so far and is hoping to move to 8-4. Lilly beat the Nationals last Monday thanks to some great offense. VS Van Benschoten 0-2, 4.35 Van Benschoten has had a tough start so far but his ERA isn't so high. He is not getting a lot of run support this season from the Pirates so this could be another trap match for the Cubs.
Cubs 4 Pirates 8 When the Cubs lose they go down ugly. The Cubs put up just 6 hits in the 8-4 loss to the Pirates and have yet to hit a home run since Friday. Jason Bay usually hits Marquis well but he went 0-4 today but his teammates picked him up. Xavier Nady went 3-4 with a homer and 2 rbis. Jason Marquis had an awful start giving up 6 runs in 4.2 innings pitched. On Sunday he pitched a great game against the Brewers continuing his up and down season. Speaking of the Brewers they beat the Nationals 6-2 today meaning the Cubs are back to 5.5 behind the Brewers. If you like offense you should have been at the White Sox/Twins double header today. In game 1 of the day/night doubleheader the Twins beat the White Sox 20-14! 5 Home Runs were hit in that game. In game 2 of the day/night doubleheader the Twins beat the White Sox 12-0. So in total the Twins scored 32 runs today while the Sox scored 12. Going back to the Brewers, rookie Ryan Braun hit 2 home runs today. He and Hunter Pence from the Astros are in a battle for NL Rookie of the Year.
The Cubs are looking to finish off the first half of the season on a winning note after they took 3 of 4 from Washington. The Brewers are now playing Washington after Pittsburgh took 3 of 4 from Milwaukee.
Nationals 2 Cubs 4 One day after coming off a disappointing loss to the Nationals, the Cubs continued onward with their winning attitude with a 4-2 win over the Washington Nationals Thursday.
With Derrek Lee taking the day off and President George W. Bush in attendance in front of a small crowd of 22,594 at RFK Stadium, Cubs skipper Lou Piniella inserted a new lineup mixed in with Mike Fontenot back in his more comfortable two-spot in the order, and Daryle Ward taking Lee's spot at 1st and batting third in the order. Cesar Izturis played shortstop for Ryan Theriot and Jacque Jones took over centerfield.
A seemingly power-less Cubs team over the past week displayed their ever strong run producing ability by having a big night by Daryle Ward. He was singled in by Aramis Ramirez in the 4th inning, and doubled to deep center in the 6th inning to score Mike Fontenot.
Sean Marshall pitched a decent outing until the 6th where the Nationals picked up two runs via Dmitri Young's RBI triple to score Ryan Zimmerman and Austin Kearn's sacrifice fly to score Young to nod up the score at 2-2.
The Cubs would pick up after Marshall by scoring 2 in the 7th inning. Mike Fontenot singled to center to score Angel Pagan and also sending Alfonso Soriano to third. Daryle Ward came through again hitting a sacrifice fly to score Soriano. The Cubs would keep this 4-2 lead to win the game.
Clutch pitching and defense that came through late in the game as Carlos Marmol got out of a bases loaded jam with a nice catch by Daryle Ward from a hard hit liner from Brian Schneider.
The Milwaukee Brewers fell to the Pirates 6-3 Thursday and the Cubs moved to only 4.5 games behind them in the NL Central. The Cubs are now looking to take their winning ways to Pittsburgh before the All-Star break.
Stud of the day- Daryle Ward 2-4, 2 rbi, 1 run scored
