Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

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Quick Rundown of the Next 4 games.

Im looking forward to the next few games so not going to Post the full Boxscore for each game.

April 6
Cubs 0
Arizona 1

W: Daniel Hudson, L: Ryan Dempster

April 8
Cubs 5
Brewers 2

W: Zambrano, L: Marcum

April 9
Cubs 2
Brewers 3

W: Wolf, L: Garza

April 10
Cubs 6
Brewers 1

W: Wells, L: Narveson

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League Roundup

4/4-4/3 Transactions
Chicago Cubs
4/4 Optioned RP, Esmaliin Caridad to Triple A
4/4 Purchesd the Contract of 3B, Bobby Scales from Triple A

Chicago White Sox
4/9 Placed SP, Jeffry Marquez on the 15 Day DL (Strained Pectoral)
4/9 Purshed the contract of RP, Brian Bruney from Triple A

New York Mets
4/5 Placed SS, Jose Reyes on 15 Day DL (ACL Sprain)
4/5 Recalled SS, Ruben Tejada from Triple A

Texas Rangers
4/9 Placed LF, Josh Hamilton on the 15 Day DL (Broken Forearm)
4/9 Recalled CF Engel Beltre from Triple A

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Series Preview
April 11-13
Chicago Cubs (3-6) @ Houston Astros (5-4)
Probable Pitchers

Game 1:
CHC: Andrew Cashner (0-0), 6.43 ERA, 5K
HOU: Nelson Figueroa (0-0), 3.00 ERA, 3K
Game 2:
CHC: Ryan Dempster (0-2), 2.30 ERA, 12K
HOU: Wandy Rodriguez (0-1), 3.86 ERA, 7K
Game 3:
CHC: Carlos Zambrano (1-0), 3.68 ERA, 5K
HOU: Brett Myers (1-0), 3.46 ERA, 6K

NL Central Standings going into the series

MLB Standings - Updated: Apr 11, 2011
NL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Cardinals	6	3
Astros	5	4	1.0
Reds	4	5	2.0
Brewers	4	6	2.5
Cubs	3	6	3.0
Pirates	3	7	3.5

Cubs Stats going into the series

2011 Chicago Cubs Stats - Hitting
NAME	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
S. Castro	38	5	12	0	1	0	2	0	11	6	0	.316	.316	.368
K. Fukudome	33	3	8	0	1	1	4	1	4	3	0	.242	.257	.394
A. Soriano	33	4	13	2	0	2	2	0	6	7	0	.394	.394	.636
M. Byrd	32	6	10	1	0	4	7	1	6	1	1	.313	.333	.719
A. Ramirez	32	4	7	1	0	4	5	0	5	0	0	.219	.219	.625
C. Pena	32	6	7	1	1	5	6	1	10	0	0	.219	.265	.781
G. Soto	26	0	6	0	1	0	2	0	7	0	0	.231	.231	.308
B. Dewitt	17	0	3	1	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	.176	.222	.235
T. Colvin	13	2	6	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	2	.462	.462	.692
J. Baker	13	3	5	1	0	0	1	1	3	0	0	.385	.429	.462
K. Hill	10	3	2	0	0	1	3	1	2	0	0	.200	.273	.500
D. Barney (DL)	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000	.000	.000
R. Johnson	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	.000	.000	.000
B. Scales	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	.333	.500	.333

2011 Chicago Cubs Stats - Pitching
NAME	GP	GS	W	L	SV	QS	HLD	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	ERA
K. Wood	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	3.0	1	0	0	0	6	0.33	0.00
R. Dempster	2	2	0	2	0	2	0	15.2	11	4	0	0	12	0.70	2.30
C. Zambrano	2	2	1	0	0	1	0	14.2	11	6	1	0	5	0.75	3.68
M. Garza	2	2	0	2	0	1	0	9.1	20	7	2	1	7	2.25	6.75
R. Wells	2	2	1	1	0	1	0	15.0	22	10	4	0	14	1.47	6.00
S. Marshall	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	4.1	4	3	2	0	2	0.92	6.23
J. Stevens	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.1	3	2	1	1	2	1.71	7.71
J. Grabow	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.2	3	0	0	0	4	1.13	0.00
J. Russell	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.0	1	0	0	0	3	0.33	0.00
A. Cashner	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	7.0	9	5	2	0	5	1.29	6.43
J. Samardzija	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.0	4	3	1	0	1	4.00	27.00
C. Marmol	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Cubs Rout Astros with big 8th/9th Innings.

Houston (AP)- In a game that featured plenty of long balls the Cubs came out on top. Carlos Pena led the Cubs with 2 Home Runs and 3 RBIs along with Alfonso Soriano who went 4-5 with 4 runs scored. Sean Marshall came in in relief of Andrew Cashner who gave up 4 runs in 6 innings of work. Marshall pitched a scoreless 7th and got the win. Kerry Wood came in in the setup role but ended up with the save as the Cubs scored 4 in the 9th inning in game one against the Astros.

Cubs Corner: Yet another chance at a save for Carlos Marmol that goes out the door, he is yet to appear in a game and is allegedly asking to start the next game just so his arm can get some use….. Marlon Byrd extended his hitting streak to 9 games today…. The Astros were forced to use 6 different pitchers which could cause problems later on in the series while the Cubs were only forced to use three….The Cubs got their first outfield assist of the year from Koske Fukudome on a line drive in the first inning that he was able to throw out Michael Bourn at the plate to keep the game 0-0.

CHC at HOU -
Jan 1,	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs (3-6)	0	2	0	1	1	0	0	2	4	10	17	1
Houston Astros (5-4)	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	8	3
W: Sean Marshall (1-1) L: Wilton Lopez (1-1) S: Kerry Wood (1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	HOU
	2	Carlos Pena, Solo Home Run to Right Field	1	0
	2	Blake Dewitt, RBI Single, Soriano Scores	2	0
	2	Carlos Lee, Solo Home Run to Left Field	2	1
	4	Alfonso Soriano, Solo Home Run to Left Field	3	1
	5	Starlin Castro, RBI Single, Fukudome Scores	4	1
	6	Bill Hall, 3 Run Home Run to Left Field, Pence and Johnson Score	4	4
	8	Carlos Pena, Solo Home Run to Left Field	5	4
	8	Jeff Baker, RBI Single, Soriano Scores	6	4
	9	Fukudome Scores on an error by Bill Hall, Castro to 3rd, Byrd to 2nd	7	4
	9	Starlin Castro Scores on Sac Fly by Aramis Ramirez, Byrd to 3rd	8	4
	9	Carlos Pena, RBI Single, Byrd Scores	9	4
	9	Geovany Soto, RBI Single, Soriano Scores	10	4

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	5	2	2	0	0	0		.263
Castro	4	1	1	1	1	0		.309
Byrd	5	1	1	0	0	1		.297
Ramirez	4	0	1	1	0	0		.222
Pena	5	2	3	3	0	0		.270
Soriano	5	4	4	1	0	0		.447
Soto	4	0	2	1	0	1		.266
DeWitt	3	0	1	1	0	1		.200
Baker	2	0	1	1	0	1		.400
Cashner	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
Colvin	1	0	1	0	0	0		.500
Johnson	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
TEAM TOTALS	40	10	17	9	1	4
BATTING: HR: Pena 2 (6,7), Soriano (3) RBI: Pena 3 (7,8,9), DeWitt (1), Soriano (3), Castro (3), Baker (2), Ramirez (6), Soto (3) 2B: Soriano (3), Byrd (2) SF: Ramirez SAC: Soto, Cashner GIDP: DeWitt
BASERUNNING: SB: Fukudome 2 (4,5), Colvin (2), Castro (7)
FIELDING: E: Dewitt (1) Assist: Fukudome (1)

Houston Astros
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bourn	4	0	1	0	0	0		.292
Pence	4	1	1	0	0	0		.222
Johnson	4	1	1	0	0	1		.264
Lee	4	1	1	1	0	1		.243
Wallace	4	0	0	0	0	1		.111
Hall	4	1	1	3	0	2		.258
Barmes	4	0	1	0	0	1		.314
Castro	3	0	1	0	0	1		.275
Figueroa	1	0	0	0	0	0		.333
Sanchez	1	0	1	0	0	0		.222
Keppinger	1	0	0	0	0	0		.363
TEAM TOTALS	34	4	8	4	0	7
BATTING: HR: Lee, Hall 2B: Johnson, Castro RBI: Lee, Hall 3 GIDP: Pence
BASERUNNING: SB: Bourn CS: Pence
FIELDING: E: Bourn, Wallace, Hall

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Cashner	6.0	8	4	4	0	5		6.23
Marshall (W, 1-1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0		5.06
Wood (S, 1)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	8	4	4	0	7

Houston Astros
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Figueroa	5.0	8	4	4	0	3		4.90
Fulchino	2.0	2	0	0	0	0		7.36
Lopez (L, 1-1)	0.1	2	2	2	0	0		4.50
Wright	0.2	1	0	0	0	0		2.07
Arias	0.0	1	3	2	1	0		13.50
Rodriguez	1.0	3	1	0	0	1		0.00

Cubs Moves after the game:
DJ Le Mahieu, 2B, Promoted To Triple A Iowa
Nate Sampson, SS, Promoted to Triple A Iowa
Bryan LaHair, LF, Demoted to Double A Tennessee
John Gaub, RP, Demoted to Double A Tennessee
Junior Lake, SS, Promoted to Double A Tennessee
Mathew Spencer, LF, Demoted to Single A Daytona

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Cubs take Game 2 in Houston
Houston (AP)-In game two of the 3 game series the Cubs routed the Astros 7-1. Both teams were in double digits in hits but the Cubs were better able to capitalize on those hits throughout the game. Player of the Game Ryan Dempster held the Astros scoreless for 6 innings until an inside the park home run by Juan Castro was given up. Dempster picks up his first win of the season even though his ERA is under 2.00. On the losing end is Wandy Rodriguez who gave up 6 earned runs in just 4 and 2/3 innings of work.


Cubs Corner: The Astros were out of relief pitching and were forced to use their closer in the 8th inning in a game they were losing….Carlos Marmol made his first appearance of the season in a non-save situation and struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced….Marlon Byrd extended his hitting streak to 10 games…..Jeff Baker extended his hitting streak to 6 games….Carlos Pena becomes the first player to reach double digit RBI’s on the team….The inside the park home run was a ball that went by Marlon Byrd up the hill in center field and almost got the runner at the plate…Game 3 is scheduled for 7:05 tomorrow night in Houston.

CHC at HOU - Minute Maid Park
Apr 12, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs ()	2	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	7	15
Houston Astros ()	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	12	2
W: Dempster (1-2) L: Rodriguez (0-2)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	HOU
	1	Byrd, RBI Single, Fukudome Scores	1	0
	1	Pena, RBI Single, Byrd Scores	2	0
	3	Baker, RBI Double, Fukudome Scores	3	0
	3	Pena, RBI Single, Baker Scores	4	0
	5	Ramirez and Soriano Score on dropped 3rd strike throw over the first baseman's head.	6	0
	5	Dewitt, RBI Double, Soto Score	7	0
	7	Jason Castro, Inside the Park Home Run to center	7	1

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	5	2	3	0	0	1		.302
Baker	5	1	1	1	0	3		.350
Byrd	5	1	2	1	0	1		.310
Pena	5	0	3	2	0	1		.310
Ramirez	5	1	1	0	0	2		.220
Soriano	5	1	2	0	0	2		.442
Soto	3	1	0	0	1	2		.242
Hill	1	0	0	0	0	0		.182
Dewitt	4	0	1	1	0	0		.208
Dempster	3	0	1	0	0	0		.125
Colvin	1	0	1	0	0	0		.533
TEAM TOTALS	42	7	15	5	1	12
BATTING: RBI: Byrd (8), Pena 2 (10,11), Baker (3), Dewitt (2) 2B: Baker (2), Dewitt (2), Pena (2) GIDP: Ramirez
BASERUNNING: SB: Fukudome 2 (6,7) CS: Dewitt (1)

Houston Astros
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bourn	5	0	2	0	0	0		.304
Pence	4	0	0	0	0	4		.200
Johnson	4	0	0	0	0	2		.237
Lee	4	0	2	0	0	1		.268
Wallace	4	0	2	0	0	0		.150
Hall	4	0	1	0	0	1		.257
Barmes	4	0	2	0	0	1		.333
Castro	4	1	3	1	0	1		.333
Rodriguez	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
Sanchez	1	0	0	0	0	0		.200
Keppinger	1	0	0	0	0	0		.333
Quintero	1	0	0	0	0	1		.200
BATTING: 2B: Lee (2), Hall (4) HR: Castro (1) RBI: Castro (3) GIDP: Hall
BASERUNNING: CS: Barmes (2)
FIELDING: E: Barmes (4), Castro (1)

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Demptster (W, 1-2)	7.0	10	1	1	0	9		1.99
Samardzija	1.0	1	0	0	0	0		13.50
Marmol	1.0	1	0	0	0	2		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	12	1	1	0	11

Houston Astros
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Rodriguez (L, 0-2)	4.2	9	7	6	1	8		6.06
Lopez	0.1	1	0	0	0	0		4.15
Melancon	2.0	1	0	0	0	3		4.26
Lyon	2.0	4	0	0	0	1		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	15	7	6	1	12
PITCHING: WP: Rodriguez (1)

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Cubs Sweep Astros in Houston, get to .500

Houston (AP)- The Cubs blew the Astros away yet again in Houston, this time a 10-3 score was the final decision with Cubs Ace Carlos Zambrano getting his second win of the season while Houston Hurler Brett Myers was forced to make a quick exit. The Cubs ended the game with an even 20 hits and continue their offensive output. The Cubs now have a day off to make their way to Colorado to face off against the Rockies, the game is scheduled for a 6:40 Start Time!

Cubs Corner: This is the first time the Cubs have been .500 or better since the first day of the season…The Cubs are on a 4 game winning streak…The Wins move the Cubs to 2nd place in the NL central behind the St. Louis Cardinals…Alfonso Soriano continues his hot streak and is the league leader in batting average (.437) 2nd place is Rockies Center Fielder Dexter Fowler (.422), Soriano also leads the league in hits (21)…Carlos Pena despite his 0-5 game leads the league in Homers (7)…. The Cubs are the top 3 in stolen bases, Castro (8), Fukudome and Soriano (7)…. Marlon Byrd extended his hitting streak to 11 games and Jeff Baker extended his to 7.

CHC at HOU - Minute Maid Park
Apr 13, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs ()	0	0	4	5	1	0	0	0	0	10	20	1
Houston Astros ()	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	1
W: Zambrano (2-0) L: Myers (1-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	HOU
	2	Throwing Error by Castro, Lee Scores	0	1
	2	Castro RBI single to right, Barmes Scores	0	2
	3	Castro RBI single to left, Zambrano Scores, Fukudome Scores	2	2
	3	Byrd RBI Double to left, Castro Scores	3	2
	3	Soriano RBI Single to Left, Byrd Scores	4	2
	3	Lee RBI Triple to Right Center, Wallace Scores	4	3
	4	Zambrano RBI Single to Center, Baker Scores	5	3
	4	Fukudome, 2 Run Home Run to Right Field, Zambrano Scores	7	3
	4	Castro, Solo Home Run to Left Field	8	3
	4	Soto, RBI Single to Center, Byrd Scores	9	3
	5	Castro, RBI Single to Center, Zambrano Scores	10	3

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	5	2	3	2	0	0		.333
Castro	5	2	4	4	0	0		.362
Byrd	5	2	4	1	0	0		.362
Pena	5	0	0	0	0	0		.277
Soriano	5	0	2	1	0	0		.437
Soto	5	0	1	1	0	0		.237
Dewitt	5	0	1	0	0	0		.207
Baker	5	1	2	0	0	1		.360
Zambrano	3	3	3	1	1	0		.714
Johnson	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
TEAM TOTALS	44	10	20	10	1	1
BATTING: 2B: Fukudome 2 (1,2), Byrd (3), Dewitt (3) HR: Fukudome (2), Castro (1) RBI: Zambrano (1), Fukudome 2 (5,6), Castro 4 (4,5,6,7), Byrd (9), Soriano (4), Soto (4) GIDP: Pena, Soriano, Johnson
BASERUNNING: SB: Castro (8)
FIELDING: E: Castro (3)

Houston Astros
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bourn	4	0	0	0	0	3		.280
Wallace	4	1	2	0	0	0		.182
Johnson	4	0	1	0	0	0		.238
Lee	4	1	2	1	0	0		.289
Hall	4	0	1	0	0	1		.256
Barmes	4	1	0	1	0	0		.302
Castro	3	0	1	1	0	0		.333
Sanchez	1	0	0	0	0	0		.182
Michaels	4	0	1	0	0	1		.182
Myers	1	0	0	0	0	1		.000
Pence	1	0	1	0	0	0		.220
Quintero	2	0	0	0	0	1		.143
TEAM TOTALS	36	3	9	3	0	7
BATTING: 2B: Hall (5) 3B: Lee (1) RBI: Lee (4), Barmes (2), Castro (4) GIDP: Lee
BASERUNNING: SB: Lee (1)
FIELDING: E: Johnson (1) PB: Castro (1)

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Zambrano (W, 2-0)	7.0	9	3	2	0	6		3.32
Stevens	2.0	0	0	0	0	1		4.15

Houston Astros
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Myers (L, 1--1)	3.1	10	7	7	0	0		6.61
Lopes	0.2	4	2	2	0	0		7.20
Arias	2.0	1	1	1	1	0		9.64
Wright	1.0	1	0	0	0	1		1.69
Rodriguez	2.0	4	0	0	0	0		0.00

[Getty51]

League Roundup

4/10-4/14 Transactions

Chicago White Sox
4/12 Place SP, Jake Peavy on the 15 Day DL (Strained Pectoral)
4/12 Recalled SP, Lucas Harrell from Triple A Charlotte

Los Angeles Dodgers
4/14 Activated 2B, Aaron Miles from the DL
4/14 Optioned 2B, Ivan De Jesus to Triple A Albuquerque

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Series Preview
Cubs (6-6) @ Rockies (9-4)

Game 1
CHC: Matt Garza (0-2), 6.75 ERA
COL: Aaron Cook (1-0), 1.98 ERA

Game 2
CHC: Randy Wells (1-1), 6.00 ERA
COL: Jason Hammel (2-0), 0.69 ERA

Game 3
CHC: Andrew Cashner (0-0), 6.23 ERA
COL: Ubaldo Jimenez (1-0), 1.54 ERA