Chicago Cubs

Tonight, it was one of those wild nights when each team's bullpen collapsed.

Nine relievers were called in to work when nine out of 14 runs of the game were conceded by the bullpen of either team.

The Chicago Cubs ended their road trip on a positive note. 

They may have been out of contention for a while, but playing the spoiler rule is still fun, especially with six more weeks of baseball left in the regular season. 

The long wait is over.

The Cubs fans have been wondering when Opening Day starter Carlos Zambrano could restore his Big Z-type performance.  They got the answer today.  In front of the national television audience and a crowd of 46,313 in Busch Stadium, Zambrano finally got his first win as a starter in his third return to the Cubs rotation.

The Cubs starter Thomas Diamond suffered another short outing in St. Louis tonight.  He only lasted four innings yielding four runs and six hits.  In his previous match against Cincinnati, he was pulled after three frames. 

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols had three hits, including a home run to lift the Cardinals past the Cubs 6-3 in the opener of the three-game series.

8:05pm ET, Friday, 8/13 TV: CSN, FSMW

Probable pitchers: Thomas Diamond (0-2, 8.00) vs. Jake Westbrook (6-7, 4.54)

4:10pm ET, Saturday, 8/14 TV: FOX

Probable pitchers: Carlos Zambrano (3-6, 5.46) vs. Chris Carpenter (13-3, 2.89)

2:15 pm ET, Sunday, 8/15 TV: WGN, KSDK

Probable pitchers: Ryan Dempster (10-8, 3.66) vs. Jamie Garcia (10-5, 2.71)

2010 season matchups

The Cubs are even with the Cardinals in six matches so far this season (3-3).

It seemed as if Pat Burrell had done it again, but this time, he needed help.

The San Francisco Giants trailed the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a four game series, 3-1.

Pat Burrell led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a home run to left-center field. Pablo Sandoval followed with his first home run in his last 46 games to tie the game.

Sanodoval was happy and relieved that he finally had broken his streak of 178 at bats without a home run.

It’s déjà vu for the Cubs.

The one-run game has haunted the Chicago Cubs as they lost another, 8-7 to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday afternoon.  They have been defeated 30 times out of their 42 one-run games this season.

Here is a potential opportunity for Cubs GM Jim Hendry to take advantage of a first-place team by tempting them with an injury-prone and overpaid third baseman who may interest a team like the Braves, who are trying to win a World Series in manager Bobby Cox' last season.

We all know that Hendry needs payroll flexibility and while Ramirez has had an awful season, his track record, assuming he's healthy, could actually interest another team.

The Giants and Cubs had a little unfinished business to attend to before they matched up Wednesday night in San Francisco. With the owner's meetings getting underway in Minneapolis, Jim Hendry and Brian Sabean completed a trade that they reportedly began talking about as the trade deadline was approaching.

As I'm doing my ritual refreshing of my twitter page, I see my cousin re-tweet something that made me stop in my tracks.