Agony And Ivy

Giants 3, Cubs 0

2011-05-15T05:08:53Z

Heroes: Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro each had two singles in three at-bats. It was Barney's 16th multi-hit game of the season and Castro's 15th.

Saturday Night's All Right for Baseball

2011-05-14T07:30:36Z

Tonight, the first Saturday night game since June 20, 1998 will be played at Wrigley Field. In that Saturday night tilt almost 13 years ago, rookie Kerry Wood struck out 11 in 7 1/3 innings and Sammy Sosa hit his 28th and 29th home runs in a 9-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cubs 11, Giants 4

2011-05-14T06:15:04Z

Hero: Reed Johnson, who got a rare start in right field, went 3-for-5 with a triple, drove in four, and made a spectacular catch in the second inning, slamming into the right-field wall to rob former Cub Mike Fontenot of extra bases.

May 10, 2011: Aisle 233, Row 9, Seat 110

2011-05-13T18:14:11Z

Some random observations from my latest visit to Wrigley Field for the Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals game on Tuesday night:

Cardinals 9, Cubs 1

2011-05-13T05:22:29Z

Hero: Jeff Baker, who started in right field, continued his phenomeanl hitting against left-handed pitching, going 3-for-4 and driving in the Cubs' only run with a sixth inning single. Baker is 16-for-31 (.516 BA) against lefties this season. Baker's three singles came against St. Louis southpaw Jaime Garcia (5-0). He lined out to first baseman Albert Pujols against right-handed reliever Mitchell Boggs in the eighth.

Pujols Right Guy for Cubs

2011-05-13T03:05:02Z

I wish Chicago Sun-Times columnist Joe Cowley would stick to telling White Sox general manager Ken Williams how to do his job.

In Thursday's Sun-Times, Cowley, a former longtime White Sox beat writer, advised Cubs fans to not get their hopes up in regards to the North Siders signing St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols. He suggested that any Cubs fan who dares dream of Pujols donning a Cubs uniform in 2012 should "pick up the nearest stapler and punch it into your chest to help snap you back to reality."

Cubs 11, Cardinals 4

2011-05-12T04:30:35Z

Hero: Starlin Castro went 4-for-4 with a triple, scored three times, and drove in three to break out of his slump and pace the Cubs' 17-hit attack. It was his third four-hit effort of the season.

Cardinals 6, Cubs 4

2011-05-11T05:25:28Z

Hero: Darwin Barney went 3-for-4 (all singles), was hit by a pitch, and scored twice.

Reds 2, Cubs 0

2011-05-08T23:19:56Z

Hero: Ryan Dempster (1-4) had his second straight solid start, allowing two runs (both earned) on five hits while striking out four and walking none.

"I'm doing a better job of executing pitches," Dempster said. "I was able to keep the ball down, for the most part, today."

Cubs 3, Reds 2

2011-05-08T05:21:03Z

Heroes: Carlos Pena (home run) Kosuke Fukudome (double) each contributed three hits and bookended a dramatic two-run ninth inning rally off Cincinnati closer Francisco Cordero (2-1) to lead the Cubs (15-17), as Pat Hughes described it, "to their most gratifying victory of the season."

Reds 5, Cubs 4

2011-05-07T04:44:07Z

Heroes: Sean Marshall (0.64 ERA) and Kerry Wood (1.50) combined for 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief. They allowed one hit, struck out two, and walked none.

Cubs relievers have not allowed a run in their last 17 2/3 innings over nine games.

April 26, 2011: Aisle 313, Row 1, Seat 101

2011-05-06T03:47:05Z

In my visits to Wrigley Field in recent years, I have enjoyed a wide variety of vantage points.

I had the pleasure of watching the great Greg Maddux pitch from a second-row club box seat. I've also sat in the field boxes, terrace boxes, terrace reserved seats, and upper deck boxes - behind home plate and down both lines. I've even watched a couple games from rooftops across the street. But I had not sat in the bleachers since 2004 - two years before the seating area was renovated and named the "Bud Light Bleachers."

Cubs 5, Dodgers 1

2011-05-05T00:10:42Z

Hero: Carlos Zambrano (4-1) won his 10th straight road start with eight terrific innings as the Cubs (14-16), sporting classy 1944 replica uniforms, took two of three in the series and four of seven on the road trip. Zambrano, whose first pitch was delivered with an old-fashioned windmill windup, allowed one (earned) run on five hits while striking out four and walking one.

"He was Big Z today, he wasn't Carlos," Cubs center fielder Marlon Byrd said. "I saw 92, 94 (MPH) on the board today. He's a power pitcher, and that's what he has to do to win."

Did you catch Big Z dancing in the dugout as a recording of the Glenn Miller Orchestra's "In the Mood" blared over the Dodger Stadium public address system? It's welcome to see him enjoying the game again.

"He did what he did easily, to me, without a lot of pomp and circumstance," Cubs manager Mike Quade said. "He just went after hitters. When he's got some soft game to go with his moving fastball and can locate, he's really tough. He went right after guys and attacked them."

Zambrano's last road loss came last June 25 at Comiskey Park - his infamous meltdown game.

Cool Threads

2011-05-04T08:21:07Z

The Los Angeles Dodgers are sporting replicas of the powder blue satin 1944 Brooklyn Dodgers alternate uniforms for all of their weekday afternoon home games this season.

Cubs 4, Dodgers 1

2011-05-04T06:45:59Z

Hero: Finally, the Demp we know and love. Ryan Dempster, who turned 34 on Tuesday, walked the first two batters he faced on eight straight balls, but bounced back to work seven solid innings. Dempster- who lowered his ERA to 8.05 while not figuring in the decision- allowed one (earned) run on six hits while walking two and striking out five.

"To say this was the best outing of Ryan Dempster's season would be probably the understatement of the year," Len Kasper said during the WGN telecast."He was really good."