These are the special seasons. Enjoy Cub fans...

It will be Edmonds to go, not Ward.

Ward has proven to be a big-time pinch-hitter.

yup, it was all me.

Great win.

Lilly's getting his #### lit.

Good thing I've got plenty of beer

I'm beginning to think that Ted Lilly is somehow related to Rex Grossman. When he's good, he's very good, but when he's bad, he's

Getting interesting

Wow, wouldn't this be something........Edmonds picked a great time to start hitting something

Amazing. The Cubs are going to win a game they were down 9 - 1 going into the sixth. Simply incredible.

YES!!!!!

Good thing the wind is blowing out

lovin this!!!!! Good thing I took today off to witness this gem.

And to think they're doing it without Reed Johnson

and D. Lee and Theriot and Ramirez and Soto.....

Marmol Ks the side on 10 pitches.

The kid is just sick.

great W

I don't see this team winning less than 90 games, they're awesome.

I think we need 1 more quality SP and a stronger closer to be great, but this team is good. Loving it so far!!!

and Soriano.....

Even more impressive if true.....I hear Wrigley wasn't even at the game today. To do it without him there........wow

Comcast replay at 1:30 AM, at least in my area. This one might get taped. Hey Chicago whaddya say......

lineup when the Cubs started scoring the runs:

1Soriano LF
2Fontenot 2B
3Blanco C
4Hoffpauir 1B
5Fu kudome RF
6Edmonds CF
7DeRosa 3B
8Cedeno SS

and 3-7 did all the damage

I agree about the starter, but Kerry has looked pretty dominant lately. Glad I didn't give up on this one too early. Those last few innings were fun to watch. It was worth the thirty bucks I spent to watch it at the bar.

Does Lou look like a genius or what? Lifting D Lee for Micah and Soto for Blanco.

Also, thanks for showing up today Jim Edmonds. That was nice to see.

No, but I'm going again Saturday

I still think Kerry needs to be the setup man, and Marmol be the closer. His stuff is just ridiculous.

no way. marmol is the king of stranding base runners. plus the dude can pitch 2 innings if needed. guys way too valuable in the in the overlookied 7th-8th innings.

Did you see Tavaris strike out to end the game??




Marmol's stuff is disnastyfilthysickawfulling.

Another game attended, another win

This is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much fun.


W

Good work - well done.

Has Gallagher been throwing mid-90s all season? I seem to remember him topping out around 91. Kid looks pretty solid today.

W

Um,

Nice homestand!!!! Hey Wrigley, have you gone to a game this year where the Cubs haven't won?

None at home, but I have witnessed one lose in STL.

His last outing he was also in the 93-95 range. Sometimes though, I wonder about the accuracy of the guns, as it seems at times that the entire team seems to throw harder on certain days/in certain parks moreso than others.

As a diehard Cardinal fan it is hard to give props, but the Cubs have all the right ingredients this year. Gonna be a long season for my Redbirds when the patchwork pitching eventually implodes. Bring on Colby Rasmus! Give the save opps to Perez!

Does anyone have the latest on how Wild thing Rich Hill is doing in Triple A? I'd love to see him rebound and grab a firm hold on a rotation spot he once had locked up.

His latest wasn't bad, but it was in that 3 BB / 5 K range if IRC. I think they're waiting for a couple of back to back "0 / 8" type games before calling him up.

He better get it together before the Cubs fall in love with Gallagher.

I'm fine with them falling in love with Gallagher.....I'd love to see R. Hill and Gallagher in the rotation and Marquis exiting stage left.

I've been to three homegames so far this year. 3 losses.

And the streak continues It got rather hairy at the end, but it's a W
nonetheless. Maybe Marmol isn't ready for the closers role after all.

STOP GOING TO THE HOME GAMES!!!!!!!

LOL, just kidding. luck of the draw I guess.

Cubs recall K. Hart send M.Hoffpauir back down.
It's obvious the pen has been a tad overworked as of late. I know last night
Lou was pissed at Weurtz and yanked him quick after a couple of walks.

Don't look now but Edmonds has been heating up nicely after working with G.Perry.
Appearantly Perry found some flaws on tape, compared with Edmonds swing prior to when Busch 2 was built.
( his better years)
I hope he keeps the hot streak up, he will continue be a huge lift if he can.

Let's get # 9 tonight !!!!

It's looking good. 9-3 in the 8th.

SOB, it's never easy. Come on, let's put this one in the left hand column.

Sweet Lou is going to run Wood, Marmol and Howry into the ground.

Not exactly. I like the way he used Eyre tonight - he can give you and inning + as well. Kotts can be youre situational lefty and occasionally work 1+ as well. The only problem is that Wuertz and every other young (or not-so-young) righty they bring up (, Hart, Fox,Asconio - although he did fine) can't throw strikes or get anyone out.

The biggest issue lately (not just the bullpen) is trying to stay away from walks. All 3 runs Marquis gave up tonight were guys that he walked that eventually came around to score. Z last night gave up 5 hits in 5.0 IP - not horrible - but it was the 4 walks that got him in trouble. In this series they have walked Gerut and Iguchi a total of 8 times combined and Giles twice (in 2 GAMES!) - that's 10 free passes to the 1,2 & 3 hitters so you can face Adrain Gonzalez (the only true offensive threat in the Padre lineup) with guys on base. That's either horrible execution or simply not pitching smart (or a combination of both). In the bullpen it's pretty simple too - don't walk guys with a 4+ run lead. Wuertz and Marmol did it last night, Hart tonight. It's even more annoying, as you're doing it against a poor offensive team in a pitcher's ball park. Jody Gerut is hitting .256 with a lifetime OB% of .336 - this series his OB% is .778 thanks to 5 BB in 2 games. But they're throwing strikes to A. Gonzalez - he's got 6 hits in two games and 5 RBI - course, that's because they've got no place to put him from walking everyone else.

Cubs pitchers have given up 6 runs two nights in a row to a team that is 29th in BA and 28th in total runs scored. Luckily the Cubs lead all of baseball in both of those categories, so they've been able to out-hit their pitching shortfalls. If this Cubs team has a weakness, walks by their pitchers is it (well that, and the 4 and 5 starters - but mainly because of the walks).