Cubs Collapse Late Against Brewers
For whatever reason the Cubs can’t solve the Brewers, they not only lose to the Brewers, they get blown out by them. The Cubs raced to an early 3-1 lead last night but couldn’t hold it as Aramis Ramirez and company pushed across three runs in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead. 
A Brett Jackson home run in the bottom of the sixth made it 5-4 Brewers, but that was as close as the Cubs would get as the bullpen exploded late. After giving up one run in the 8th the Cubs pen put on a show in the ninth surrendering nine runs on eight hits. The best performance on the mound in the ninth inning belonged to Cubs utility outfielder Joe Mather who tossed one-third of an inning giving up only a single. No word yet if Mather will have a shot to make the team next year out of the bullpen It was more of the same for the Cubs at the plate against Brewers pitching. By more of the same I mean striking out, a lot, as the Cubs fanned 15 times last night, this coming on the heels of striking out 39 times in the three game series in Milwaukee last week. As I mentioned Brett Jackson went deep, he is locked in right now, he finished the night 1-for-3 with his fourth home run, two walks, an RBI, and a run scored.
Game Highlights:
DeJesus Adventure
Castro Turns a Nice Double Play
Jackson Solo Shot
Soriano’s RBI Double
Thanks for reading,
- George
Volstad’s Winless Streak Ends at 24, Rejoice!
It was a long day at Wrigley today, to Chris Volstad the six and a half hour day was nothing compared to the over year-long wait to get back in the win column. Twenty-four, that is how many times Chris Volstad made a start on a big league mound between wins. 
For the majority of the day it didn’t look like this game would get played at all as the Cubs and Rockies sat through a two plus hour rain delay before getting underway just before four O’clock local time. Volstad was on right away as he was locating on both sides of the plate and keeping the ball down consistently for really the first time all year. Volstad avoided the big inning which is usually his downfall, he finished his day after 6.2 innings giving up no runs on three hits while walking three and striking out three to get the win. The Cubs offensive attack was finally just that, an attack, as they pounded out nine hits and scored five runs in the victory. Anthony Rizzo, who has been showing some fatigue of late had a solid day at the plate going 2-for-2 with two walks. Starlin Castro also had a good day at the plate going 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and three runs scored. Brett Jackson continued his solid series today as well as he was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored, he finished the series 4-for-8 with two home runs, three RBI’s, and three runs scored.
Game Highlights:
Volstad’s Great Outing
DeJesus’ RBI Single
Great Catch by Jackson
Castro’s Slick Play
Thanks for reading,
- George
Rockies Return the Favor, Rally to Beat Cubs
One day after the Cubs rallied from a three run deficit to win the Rockies did the same thing. The Cubs built a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning only to see the Rockies get two right back in the fifth. The Rockies didn’t stop there as they scored single runs in the 6th and 7th to take a 4-3 lead. 
The Rockies bullpen took it from there as they tossed five shutout innings to shut down the Cubs to even the series at one. Brooks Raley was in line for the win before the Cubs pen blew a one run lead. Raley finished his day after five innings giving up two runs on five hits while walking three and striking out four. The Cubs looked poised to put up big offensive numbers today after scoring three times in the fourth inning, but they could only manage one hit over the final five innings. Brett Jackson is really turning it on at the plate, he was 2-for-3 today with his 3rd home run of the season, a double, a walk, and two RBI’s. Anthony Rizzo, Alfonso Soriano, and Starlin Castro were the only other Cubs to record a hit in the loss, all singles. The Cubs ran themselves out of two innings as Joe Mather and Starlin Castro were caught stealing in big spots.
Game Highlights:
Jackson’s Two Run Blast
Thanks for reading,
- George
Better Late Than Never as Cubs Rally Past Rockies
For the majority of the day the Cubs bats were silent, but sparked by a Brett Jackson game tying home run the Cubs exploded for three runs in the eighth inning for the victory. The Cubs fought all the way back from an early 3-0 deficit thanks to solo home runs from Alfonso Soriano, Welington Castillo, and 
the aforementioned Brett Jackson. Jeff Samardzija made the start for the Cubs and struggled early before settling down and battling his way through seven strong innings. Samardzija gave up three runs, two earned, on six hits while walking two and striking out seven but had to settle for a no decision. Shawn Camp and James Russell combined to take care of the eighth inning and Carlos Marmol came on in the ninth to notch his 16th save of the season. Don’t look now but Carlos Marmol has quietly turned his horrendous year into something respectable as his ERA is about to slip under 4.00. The Cubs didn’t have much going offensively except for the solo home run ball as they could only manage five hits on the day, three of which left the yard. Joe Mather, the surprise lead-off man came up with the big hit in the ninth to give the Cubs a 4-3 lead before they tacked on an extra run to make it 5-3. Comeback wins are always exciting, regardless of the record, the Cubs will try to make it two in a row against the Rockies tomorrow afternoon at 12:05.
Post Game Pressers
Game Highlights:
Joe Mather’s Game Winner
Full Video Recap
Samardzija’s Outing
Marmol Nails Down the Save
Brett Jackson’s Blast
Castillo Goes Deep
Soriano’s HR
Great Play by Rizzo
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Can’t Find Contact or a Win in Series Finale
The Cubs struck out a grand total of 13 times today, that comes on the heels of 12 strikeouts last night, and 12 strikeouts in game one, that’s not very good. The result was the same for all three games, a loss, as the Brewers finished off the 
sweep this afternoon with a 3-2 victory. Travis Wood started for the Cubs and pitched well enough to win, unfortunately he finished the day with his 10th defeat of the season. Wood tossed seven strong innings giving up three runs on six hits while walking one and striking out six. The Brewers had seven hits on the day, five of them went for extra bases, that doesn’t usually bode well. Hard to score runs when you don’t put the ball in play and as I mentioned, the Cubs didn’t do nearly enough of that again today. They only managed five hits in the loss, this coming after only four hits the night before. Bryan LaHair, yes that Bryan LaHair, launched his first home run since July 4th to bring the Cubs within one in the seventh, but that was as close as they would get. The Cubs will have tomorrow off to lick their wounds as they head home to start a weekend series against Colorado on Friday.
Game Highlights:
DeJesus’ Lead-Off HR
LaHair’s Home Run
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Beat Themselves in Rusin’s Debut
It doesn’t get weirder than that one, neither team could generate any offense, but somehow the Brewers managed to score five runs on three hits. The Cubs weren’t any better as they were only able to manage four hits on 
the night on their way to a 5-2 defeat. Chris Rusin made his major league debut and was very good, unfortunately he didn’t get any help from his offense and ended up taking the loss. Rusin went five innings giving up one run on one hit while walking two, hitting two guys, and striking out four. The Brewers “big” inning against Rusin was the fourth, they pushed across a run on one hit thanks to two hit batters and a walk. Rusin got Lucroy to ground into a double play with the bases loaded and one out to avoid any further damage. The Brewers broke it open in the 6th when Alberto Cabrera walked three guys then gave up one hit, all three guys scored, and it was all but over after that. The Cubs were able to score twice in the ninth inning but it was too little too late. Alfsonso Soriano had a solid day at the plate going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, he is now hitting .263 on the season with 76 RBI’s. The Cubs look to avoid the sweep this afternoon in Milwaukee as Travis Wood takes the mound against Yovanni Gallardo.
Game Highlights:
Chris Rusin’s Major League Debut
Castro’s RBI Groundout
Soriano’s RBI Single
Rusin’s First Career Hit…a Triple
Thanks for reading,
- George
Disastrous Inning Does in Cubs
If the Cubs can somehow have major league baseball remove the 5th inning from last nights game things would look much better. That’s not going to happen, so the Cubs are going to have to live with the fact that they allowed the 
Brewers to plate eight runs in that fateful inning en route to a 9-5 defeat. Justin Germano was cruising through the first four innings but ran into some big time trouble in the 5th. Germano lost command and was leaving too many pitches over the heart of the plate, typically that’s not a great way to get major league hitters out. When the dust settled the Brewers had a 9-3 lead and Germano was out of the game, he lasted 4.2 innings giving up seven runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out three. The Cubs were able to create some offense of their own as they scored five runs on eight hits but it could have been so much more. Half the players on this team still don’t know how to run out of the box, I’m looking at you Valbuena. On top of the base running mistakes the Cubs were only 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Anthony Rizzo and Welington Castillo each had two hits in the loss, the two hits from Castillo bring his average to .288 on the season, not bad at all.
Game Highlights:
Josh Vitters’ First Major League HR
Brett Jackson’s Great Catch
Rizzo’s RBI Double
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Put Up a Fight, Sorta, But Fall Short
It was an uphill battle all day long for the Cubs, they were battling not only the Reds but themselves for the better part of the game. Mentally the Cubs were out of it again, Soriano was making base running errors, mental errors in the field, and Luis Valbuena had a 
great time watching the game on the bases instead of actually playing it. With all of that the Cubs were able to erase a 4-1 deficit to tie the game at four in the eighth inning, and made things interesting in the ninth. Brett Jackson somehow managed to hit a double off of all world closer Aroldis Chapman, but was then caught stealing third with one out, that would be something the Cubs would do today, nothing was going right. So you can guessed what happened next, before you could blink the Reds led off the ninth with a triple and two pitches later the game was over with the Reds winning 5-4. Chris Volstad got the start today, and he did an adequate job, not horrible, not terrific, something in the middle, and that’s okay from Volstad. He went six innings giving up four runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out four, if he gets hit I’m fine with it, he needs to avoid the walks and he did that today. David DeJesus led the offensive attack once again going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored in the loss. The Cubs only had seven hits but they were able to push across four runs as they were 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Cubs travel to Milwaukee to start a three game series tomorrow night.
Game Highlights:
Castro’s RBI Single
DeJesus’ RBI Double
Soriano’s Sac Fly
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Earn Split Behind Castro’s Big Night
It was a busy day for Starlin Castro, earlier in the day news broke that Starlin Castro had agreed to an 7 year extension with the Cubs, he closed out the night a home run shy of the cycle. More on Castro in a bit, it was a very big night for Brooks Raley as well. Raley was called up to start game two of the double-header and he delivered his first major league win while holding a very hot Cincinnati offense in check. Raley finished the night going 5.1 innings giving up four runs, three earned 
while walking two and striking out four, he also registered his first major league hit. It was a wild game as the Cubs built an 8-2 lead by the 6th inning, then things became uneasy for Cubs fans. The Reds scored twice in the 6th inning and twice in the seventh inning to make it an 8-6 game. The Cubs seemed destined to blow the lead as the Reds pulled to within one in the 8th, but got a big boost from an unlikely pinch hitter. David DeJesus who got game two off with a tweaked back, launched a solo shot in the top of the ninth to give the Cubs a little more breathing room. Carlos Marmol came on in the ninth and continued his resurgence as he shut down the Reds for his 15th save of the season. Adrian Cardenas, making his first start in what seems like forever, went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI. Back to Castro, he was outstanding in the night-cap finishing 3-for-5 with a double, triple, two RBI’s, and a run scored.
Game Highlights:
Castro’s Huge Night
DeJesus Provides Some Insurance
LaHair’s RBI Single
Rizzo’s RBI Single
Jackson’s First Major League HR
Thanks for reading,
- George
Reds Use Long Ball to Beat Cubs Once Again
For the second straight game the Reds used the long ball to power their way past the Cubs. Jeff Samardzija was on the wrong end of the power surge today giving up three home runs on the way to his 11th loss of the season. Shark lasted five innings in game one of the 
double-header giving up four runs on six hits while striking out five, his ERA climbed to 4.17 on the season. Early on it looked like the Cubs were going to provide a formidable challenge to Cy Young contender Johnny Cueto, but the good feeling didn’t last too long. Alfonso Soriano launched his 22nd home run of the season in the first inning to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead, it was Soriano’s 1,000th career RBI, quite the accomplishment. Soriano was basically it for the Cubs offense as they could only manage five hits on the day and Soriano had two of them. The Cubs made things interesting in the ninth inning as they were able to push across a run against Reds closer Aroldis Chapman. Unfortunately Chapman took it to another level against Joe Mather with the tying runs on base, striking him out to end the threat and the game. Welington Castillo also had a solid day at the plate going 2-for-4 with an RBI in the loss. Brooks Raley was officially called up before game two as he will get the start in the night-cap.
Game Highlights:
Full Game Recap
Castro’s Great Play
Soriano’s Two-Run Homer (1,000 th career RBI)
Thanks for reading,
- George
