Breaking the Curse--A Chicago Cubs Franchise

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Do you smell what the ROCK(ies) are COOKING?

Denver (AP)- Today Aaron Cook all but shut down the Chicago Cubs at home. Cook took a perfect game into the fifth inning where he issued a 6 pitch walk to Carlos Pena. He took a no hitter into the 6th where he gave up a bloop single to Blake Dewitt and he took a shutout to the 8th when he gave up a 2 run homer to Geovany Soto. Overall Cook walked away with the win even though he didn’t have his strike out pitch working (only struck out 2). Matt Garza didn’t pitch badly for the Cubs but two of his own errors cost the team 2 runs in the first inning.

Cubs Corner: Marlon Byrd’s hit streak ends at 11….Dewitt had two of the Cubs 5 Hits….Garza committed his first two errors of the season on two dribblers hit back to him….Jeff Samardzija came in and threw 3 innings of no hit baseball in relief of Garza….Houston Street looked shaky despite getting the save, he took 7 or more pitched to get 2 of the 3 outs in the 9th… Tomorrows game is scheduled for 6:10 pm at Coors Field. Randy Wells faces off against Jason Hammel.

CHC at COL - Coors Field
Apr 15, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs (6-6)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	5	2
Colorado Rockies (9-4)	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	X	4	5	0
W: Cook (2-0) L: Garza (0-3) S: Street (5)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	COL
	1	Error on Matt Garza allows Fowler to Score	1	0
	1	Stewart RBI Single to center, Helton Scores	2	0
	3	Smith RBI Double to Right Center, Tulowitzki scores	3	0
	5	Gonzalez, Solo Home Run to Right	4	0
	8	Soto, 2 Run Home Run to Left, Soriano Scores	4	2

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	4	0	0	0	0	0		.308
Castro	4	0	0	0	0	0		.333
Byrd	3	0	0	0	0	2		.340
Pena	2	0	1	0	1	0		.286
Ramirez	3	0	0	0	0	0		.205
Soriano	3	1	1	2	0	0		.244
DeWitt	3	0	2	0	0	0		.250
Garza	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
Colvin	1	0	0	0	0	0		.500
Johnson	1	0	0	0	0	1		.000
TEAM TOTALS	28	2	5	2	1	3
BATTING: 2B: Dewitt (4) HR: Soto (1) RBI: Soto 2 (5,6) GIDP: Ramirez 2, Colvin
BASERUNNING: SB: Soriano (8)
FIELDING: E: Garza 2 (1,2)

Colorado Rockies
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fowler	4	1	1	0	0	0		.396
Helton	3	1	0	0	1	1		.297
Tulowitzki	3	1	0	0	1	2		.351
Gonzalez	4	1	1	1	0	1		.229
Smith	4	0	1	1	0	1		.241
Stewart	4	0	1	1	0	0		.314
Lopez	3	0	0	0	0	0		.250
Morales	3	0	1	0	0	0		.259
Cook	3	0	0	0	0	1		.111
BATTING: 2B: Smith (1) HR: Gonzalez (1) RBI: Gonzalez (2), Steward (11), Smith (7)

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Garza (L, 0-3)	5.0	5	4	3	2	3		6.28
Samardzija	3.0	0	0	0	0	3		5.40
TEAM TOTALS	8.0	5	4	3	2	6

Colorado Rockies
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Cook (W, 2-0)	8.0	5	2	2	1	2		2.08
Street (S, 5)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1		1.69

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Cubs Rock Denver and Rockies.

Denver (AP)- The Cubs tied the Series up today at 1 game apiece as they defeated the Rockies 6-4. The Cubs were led by Carlos Pena and Geovany Soto who had 5 of the 6 RBI’s for the team. The other came in the top of the 9th while the Cubs were looking for an insurance run, Fukudome led off the inning with a triple and Castro proceeded to put the next pitch on the ground on a suicide squeeze that worked perfectly. Randy Wells picks up his 2nd win on the season while Jason Hammel takes his first loss. Carlos Marmol appeared in his first save situation and recorded his first save after getting a crucial double play ball after allowing a hit to lead off the inning.

Cubs Corner: Pena picked up his team high 13th RBI….The Cubs executed their first suicide squeeze of the season to perfection…The Cubs move back to .500 before the rubber match….Randy Wells has an era of 5.57 and still has picked up 2 wins…Eric Young Jr, giving Dexter Fowler a break today was a home run away from the cycle, unfortunately for him his single came in the bottom of the 9th…The Rubber match is at 1:10 pm tomorrow afternoon and will feature Andrew Cashner and last season’s darling Ubaldo Jimenez.

CHC at COL - Coors Field
Apr 1, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs ()	1	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	1	6	14	0
Colorado Rockies ()	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	0	4	12	0
W: Wells (2-1) L: S: Marmol (1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CHC	COL
	1	Carlos Pena, RBI Single to Center, Byrd Scores	1	0
	3	Todd Helton, RBI Single to Left, Young JR. Scores	1	1
	4	Geovany Soto, 2 RBI single to Center, Pena scores, Ramirez scores	3	1
	6	Carlos Pena, RBI Double to Left, Byrd Scores	4	1
	6	Geovany Soto, RBI Single to Center, Pena Scores	5	1
	6	Seth Smith, RBI Single to Right, Helton Scores	5	2
	7	Dexter Fowler, Sax Fly to Right, Lopez Scores	5	3
	8	Ty Wiggington, RBI Single to Center, Tulowitzki scores.	5	4
	9	Starlin Castro, Suicide Squeeze RBI, Fukudome Scores	6	4

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	5	1	2	0	0	1		.316
Castro	4	0	0	1	0	0		.309
Byrd	5	2	2	0	0	2		.345
Pena	5	2	4	2	0	0		.333
Ramirez	4	1	1	0	0	2		.208
Soriano	4	0	0	0	0	1		.400
Soto	4	0	3	3	0	0		.289
DeWitt	3	0	1	0	0	0		.257
Wells	3	0	1	0	0	1		.250
Colvin	1	0	0	0	0	0		.471
TEAM TOTALS	38	6	14	6	0	7
BATTING: 2B: Byrd 2 (4,5), Ramirez (2), Pena (3) 3B: Fukudome (2) RBI: Castro (8), Pena 2 (12,13), Soto 3 (7,8,9) SAC: Castro, Dewitt

Colorado Rockies
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Young Jr.	5	1	3	0	0	0		.308
Helton	5	1	2	1	0	1		.310
Tulowitzki	4	1	1	0	0	0		.344
Stewart	4	0	1	0	0	1		.309
Smith	4	0	1	1	0	2		.242
Wigginton	4	0	2	1	0	1		.243
Lopez	4	1	1	0	0	0		.250
Morales	4	0	1	0	0	0		.258
Hammel	1	0	0	0	0	0		.000
Gonzalez	1	0	0	0	0	0		.224
Fowler	0	0	0	1	0	0		.396
Spilborghs	1	0	0	0	0	0		.300
TEAM TOTALS	37	4	12	4	0	5
BATTING: 2B: Helton (1), Lopez (2), Young JR. (1) 3B: Young Jr. (1) RBI: Fowler (13), Helton (5), Wigginton (3), Smith (8) SF: Fowler GIDP: Lopez, Spilborghs

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wells (W, 2-1)	6.0	6	3	3	0	3		5.57
Marshall (H, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0		4.26
Wood (H, 1)	1.0	3	1	1	0	1		1.50
Marmol (S, 1)	1.0	2	0	0	0	1		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	12	4	4	0	5

Colorado Rockies
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hammel (L, 2-1)	5.0	6	3	3	0	3		2.00
Belisle	1.0	5	2	2	0	2		4.50
F. Morales	1.0	1	0	0	0	1		8.10
Lindstrom	1.1	2	1	1	0	0		3.38
Daley	0.2	0	0	0	0	1		8.31
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	14	6	6	0	7

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Game 3:

Cubs 0
Rockies 5

I Had a full report typed up but my computer decided it wanted to shut down.

Jiminez pitched 8 innings, Cashner went 4 and gave up 5 in the 5th before he was taken out.


Starting with the Next game report I am going to try and work in some pictures and maybe even a video if everything goes well.

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Series Preview

April 18-20

San Diego Padres (7-8) @ Chicago Cubs (7-8)

Game 1
SD: Mat Latos (2-0), 2.45 ERA, 17K
CHC: Ryan Dempster (1-2), 1.99 ERA, 21K

Game 2
SD: Clayton Richard (0-1), 4.91 ERA, 4K
CHC: Carlos Zambrano (2-0), 3.32 ERA, 11K

Game 3
SD: Tim Stauffer (1-1), 7.62 ERA, 11K
CHC: Matt Garza (0-3), 6.28 ERA, 10K

Prediction: My prediction is that the Cubs win Game 2 while the Padres win Game 3, the determing factor of who wins the Series will be based on who wins game 1.

Who To Watch For:
For San Diego:
3B, Chase Headly is batting .333 with 3 Homers and 6 RBI's in his last 10 games.
1B, Brad Hawpe is batting .303 with 5 homers and 9 RBI's in his last 10 games.
RF, Will Venable is hitting a solid .366 with 1 Homer and 4 RBI's in his last 10 games.

For Chicago:
CF, Marlon Byrd who is hitting .349 with 1 homer and 5 RBI's in his last 10 games
1B, Carlos Pena who is hitting a incredible .368 with 3 homers and 8 RBI's in his last 10 games.

Who To Go After:
For San Diego:
LF, Ryan Ludwick is hitting only .176 over his last 10 games with 6 hits, though 3 of those hits have been home runs.

For Chicago:
3B, Aramis Ramirez who is hitting only .194 over his last 10 games with 7 hits, though 3 of those hits have been home runs.

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Note: If the pictures aren't working I will keep trying.


Dempster is stellar against Padres


Cubs win Pitcher’s Duel that allows only 3 hits in the game!

Chicago (AP)- Ryan Dempster was on fire today, not only did he pitch 8 innings of shut out baseball but he only gave up one hit the entire game, not to mention he struck out 10 batters in the game. Dempster solidifies the decision to have him designated as the teams ace with another stellar performance. His counterpart Mat Latos also only allowed 1 hit in his 7 innings of work but unfortunately for him that hit was a big fly from Alfonso Soriano in the 2nd inning. Both pitchers were taken out of the game to try in add some offense to the game in order to help their team. Carlos Marmol was able to come in and get a 4 batter save after walking the leadoff batter on 5 pitches.

Cubs Corner:Dempster issued 2 walks today, the most by any Cubs pitcher all year….Marmol has 2 saves in as many opportunities….Ryan Dempster gave up his only hit in the 5th inning for Cameron Maybin, Maybin was later pinch hit for before his next at bat….Dempster threw 112 pitches on the game and Mike Quade was hesitant about taking him out in order to let him finish his own game but later decided to put Marmol in.

SDG at CHC - Wrigley Field
Apr 18, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego Padres (7-8)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Chicago Cubs (7-8)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
W: Dempster (2-2) L: Latos (2-1) S: Marmol (2)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			SDG	CHC
	2	Alfonso Soriano, Solo Home Run To Center	0	1

San Diego Padres
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bartlett	3	0	0	0	1	2		.206
Hudson	3	0	0	0	0	1		.254
Venable	3	0	0	0	1	1		.316
Ludwick	3	0	0	0	1	1		.218
Hawpe	3	0	0	0	0	1		.304
Headley	3	0	0	0	0	2		.344
Maybin	2	0	1	0	0	1		.255
Cantu	1	0	0	0	0	0		.250
Hundley	3	0	0	0	0	1		.187
Latos	2	0	0	0	0	1		.125
Denorfia	1	0	0	0	0	0		.333
TEAM TOTALS	27	0	1	0	3	11
BATTING: SAC: Hudson
FIELDING: E: Bartlett (2)

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Fukudome	3	0	0	0	0	0		.281
Castro	3	0	0	0	0	0		.290
Byrd	3	0	0	0	0	0		.323
Pena	3	0	0	0	0	3		.311
Ramirez	3	0	0	0	0	1		.200
Soriano	3	1	1	1	0	1		.387
Soto	3	0	1	0	0	1		.280
Dewitt	3	0	0	0	0	1		.220
Dempster	2	0	0	0	0	0		.100
Colvin	1	0	0	0	0	0		.421
TEAM TOTALS	27	1	2	1	0	7
BATTING: HR: Soriano (4) RBI: Soriano (5)
BASERUNNING: SB: Johnson (2)

San Diego Padres
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Latos (L, 2-1)	7.0	1	1	1	0	5		2.13
Qualls	1.0	1	0	0	0	2		1.13
TEAM TOTALS	8.0	2	1	1	0	7

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Dempster (W, 2-2)	8.0	1	0	0	2	10		1.47
Marmol (S, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	1	1		0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	1	0	0	3	11

Edit: For some reason the video isn't working... If anyone knows why please let me know. Otherwise just click on the 2nd and it will take you to the video that works. Thank You