On a night when we learned that Carlos Zambrano will be returning to the starting rotation shortly, a different Carlos was able to steal the show by pitching six scoreless innings before allowing a two-run home run without recording an out in the seventh and being taken out.

After going 2-9 in an 11 game stretch, the Cubs have been able to pull off three strait wins after taking the finale against the division rival Pittsburgh Pirates and sweeping a two game series against the Colorado Rockies.

The Cubs were helped offensively by young shortstop Starlin Castro who put the Cubs up 2-0 on a fielders choice in the fourth to help give the Cubs some early insurance on the Rockies.

Then, in the eighth, he knocked in Tyler Colvin, who scored twice and stole his first career base, on an infield single to put the Cubs up 4-2. Later in the inning, the Castro scored on a Ryan Theriot single along with Geovany Soto to give the Cubs the final score of 6-2.

The bullpen, which has been an issue for the Cubs this season, pitched very well last night, allowing just one hit and one walk over the last three innings.

After Silva was pulled, Esmailin Caridad came in and walked Miguel Olivo. Caridad was immediately replaced by James Russell, who struck out two and finished the inning.

Sean Marshall pitched a scoreless eighth and Carlos Zambrano pitched a perfect ninth while striking out two and finally having a good outing in the bullpen.

Zambrano received more good news when he found out later that night that he would be returning to the rotation after a few long relief appearances.

With diminished velocity and poor performances, the bullpen experiment has been a complete failure. The only problem is, who will Zambrano replace?

The starting rotation has been the only positive for the Cubs and the only reasonable suggestion for the Cubs may be to move to a six man rotation. Although there is no definitive ace on the staff, there is also no weak spot in the rotation either.

Adding Zambrano, will likely give the Cubs one of those two things.

Zambrano’s velocity has been his mark in the past, but over the past two seasons his fastball has dropped from the mid 90’s to the high 80’s, reaching the around 90-91 on occasion. Without his fastball, he has lost his edge and hitters are taking advantage.

This season, Zambrano came in laid an egg in the season opener against the Atlanta Braves, getting pulled after just 1.1 innings and allowing eight runs.

That one start, however, was seemingly his only bad start. Over his next three starts before getting put in the bullpen he pitched 18 innings and allowed eight runs. That isn’t ace material, but it’s an ERA of 4.00 through three starts, which isn’t worthy of being put into the bullpen.

Since going to the bullpen, Zambrano has allowed six runs in 9.2 innings, but five of those runs came in two appearances while he has six scoreless appearances.

Zambrano was moved to the bullpen in hopes that he could find his velocity and give the Cubs a legitimate set-up man for Carlos Marmol. It appears that Marshall will be moving into that spot for the remainder of the season.

Although Zambrano is no ace, he will get a chance to prove that he should be a starter when he gets back into the rotation.

It was a great night for Cubs named Carlos, now it’s time to see if guys named Carlos can make a great season for the Cubs.

I’m Joe W.

In his first start of the spring, Silva pitched horribly, giving up six runs on seven hits against the rival Chicago White Sox all in just two innings of work. The bad start was expected by those who looked into Silva’s history with the Mariners and Twins.

However, in his two starts since he has pitched seven scoreless innings, got the win on both occasions, and has done a great job with his pitches as he makes up for his bad first start. He’s allowed six hits and one walk over the two appearances, giving him a very low WHIP of 1.00 in those two performances, and he lowered his ERA from 27.00 to 6.00.

Silva said that his newly found confidence may be stemming from the fact that his mother, whom he is very close with, will finally get to see him pitch live this season. For years she has been attempting to come to the U.S to watch him pitch but was never able to come.

“That was a big headache the last couple years,” Silva said. “She had been getting denied, denied, denied. I think that’s why I was fired up today.”

Silva also said that he is getting a different feeling this season than in previous ones, and that he feels a lot better about his command. If this keeps up, he could be on the fast track to becoming the fifth starter in the Cubs rotation.

“I have to talk to my mother before the game and after the game,” Silva said. “If I showed you the message I sent to her, I said, ‘The way I feel today I haven’t felt for a long, long time.’ The last game was good. I still have to work more. Today, I felt like it was me. I threw the sinker the way I wanted to throw it. I used my breaking ball, and my changeup was good today. I had good command.”

Although Silva has had issues in the past, he has shown flashes of how good he can be, and it seems as though he is working hard to recapture that magic this season with the Cubs. With the loss of Rich Harden, having a new pitcher come in who has a better history of being healthy than Harden could actually make the Cubs rotation better than last season.

Don’t get your hopes up too high, as Silva hasn’t shown a consistent ability to dominate as a pitcher, but having guarded confidence about this season for Silva might be the right way to go.

I’m Joe W.

The Cubs’ slamming of the Astros came after routing them 12-0 the day before. Everyone in the lineup is contributing, and you no longer hear anyone saying the word “slump.”

Kosuke Fukudome went 3-for-3, and was only a home run away from the cycle. Soriano went 2-for-3 with two walks, while both Jake Fox and Milton Bradley belted home runs.

Pitcher Kevin Hart started off a little rough, but finished nicely and got the job done. Hart went six innings, giving up three runs on six hits.

The Cubs have added bullpen help, making a trade for Pirate’s left-handed relievers John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny. The Cubs will send Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio, and Josh Harrison. This trade will give Piniella some flexibility in the bullpen with another lefty.

Depending on the result of the Cardinals game, the Cubs have a chance to re-gain sole possession of first place in the NL Central. Once they can get a few of their players back from injuries, it feels like they’ll be tough to beat. Life is good for a Cubs fan.

Note, there will be further analysis on the Cubs trade later in the day

-Ben Calloway

Yes, there are other differences between the two teams. The Phillies have much more team speed, for example. And they are very successful in picking the right time to steal.

In fact, their stolen base percentage is the best in the National League at 79 percent. The Cubs are last in the NL at just 60 percent.

But the main difference, to me, is the offensive firepower that the Fightin’ bring to the table. And we saw it on display all too painfully in the 13th inning when Jayson Werth hit a walk-off homer to beat the Cubs 4-1 on Tuesday night.

You just knew that a homer would somehow decide this game. And if anyone is going to hit a home run, the odds say it was going to be Philly.

The Phillies lead the league with 130 home runs. They have four players with 20 or more long balls.

But they are not one dimensional.

They are third in OBP; sixth in batting average; first in slugging and OPS. Need I continue?

Let’s see…first in RBI, third in doubles, and perhaps most importantly, they lead the league in runs scored.

Meanwhile, the Cubs rank 13th in runs and 12th in OBP. These were two areas which they excelled in last year.

The pitching has generally been solid for the Cubbies. In fact, their team ERA is much better than the Phils. Hitters are batting a full 20 points higher against Phillies pitching than Cubs pitching.

Control has hurt the Cubs throughout the year. But it’s really been the lack of offense that has plagued the team this year.

What a difference a year makes.

Let’s face it, who scares opposing pitchers in the Cubs everyday lineup? Derrek Lee, maybe. Yet the Phillies have four or five hitters that scare the crap out of a pitcher.

Aramis Ramirez is a trooper for coming back when he easily could have hung up the spikes and had his surgery now, similar to what impending free agent Adrian Beltre did in Seattle.

But “A-Ram” looks like he won’t be ready to hit for power until he gets that shoulder fixed.

While Lou Piniella continues to work with Milton Bradley on his hitting, we can only hope that Alfonso Soriano continues to hit the ball. And a few homers would be nice as well.

At least we got him out of the lead-off role. Unfortunately, our best lead-off hitter may be playing in Iowa. A very small sample, to be sure, but there was simply no room for Sam Fuld.

I know it’s the defending champs and they are on a roll, having won 10 in a row, but two runs in 22 innings just won’t cut it.

Eventually someone is going to start winning consistently in our division, so we better get going. Let’s hope we can improve on that hittability, come to think of it.

-Bob Warja

For the Washington Nationals are a lousy team, let’s face it. But you know what? The Cubs just swept them.

And I like it.

Sure, the Nats are almost 40 games under .500. But for a disappointing team like our Cubs, any good news is welcome. And a four-game win streak certainly qualifies as good news.

Look, to be a contending team you not only need to beat the teams in your division, you also need to beat up on the also-rans.

This was an opportunity for the Cubs to get fat, and so they lined up at the baseball buffet table and ate like pigs.

And a four-game sweep tastes mighty fine, no matter who you beat.

No, this doesn’t mean that all of the Cubs woes have been solved.

We still struggle mightily to hit with runners in scoring position. We have injuries to our starting pitchers, our catcher, and our third baseman needs shoulder surgery.

But hey, you have to start somewhere. And a win streak helps build confidence, which, as Bob Brenly pointed out during Sunday’s broadcast, is so very critical.

Has anyone else noticed that Koyie Hill is doing a nice job filling in for injured Geo Soto?

He threw out the speedy Nyjer Morgan despite a good jump on Sunday. Although Hill doesn’t hit very well, he seems to get hits at the right time.

And with no true backup catcher (Jake Fox should be considered “in emergency, break glass” only), Hill is being counted on to catch every inning of every game.

His is a story of triumph over potential disaster.

According to Wikipedia, “On October 16, 2007, he was using a table saw to cut wood for a window frame. Part of the wood got caught in the saw, and the saw grabbed and his hand was in the way. The saw severed his thumb and severely cut into the other four fingers into his hand. He saved them long enough to re-attach the fingers to his hand, and after many months of therapy, was able to regain motion in his fingers.”

It’s also nice to see Alfonso Soriano heating up.

Despite a dislocated pinkie finger suffered last Thursday, Soriano hit another homer on Sunday. A very streaky hitter who has been awful since May, he can carry a team on his shoulders when hot.

Jake Fox hit his first career home run against a lefty pitcher on Sunday, too.

So what’s next for our troops? Well, they have a rough series against the defending world champs, followed by seven games at home against divisional foes.

The Cardinals embark on a seven-game road trip that also includes a visit to the Phillies. Then they come home for four against the NL-best Dodgers.

The Brewers, meanwhile, have a relatively soft schedule ahead of them.

Milwaukee faces Pittsburgh, Washington and San Diego 10 times over their next 13 games.

The Cubs don’t face the Brewers again until they travel to Miller Park on September 14th for a four-game series.

In another odd twist of scheduling fate, the Cubs don’t face the Cardinals again until they travel to St. Louis for a three-game series beginning on September 18th.

In the meantime, the Cubs will need to continue to improve upon their run production while hoping that the pitching holds up.

Ted Lilly is tentatively scheduled to bring his sore left knee to the mound Monday against Philly. I wonder how long he’ll be able to go if he does start on Monday given the condition of the knee?

The team badly needs a seven inning-plus start from someone. Over the past four games, only Rich Harden has gone longer than five innings, and his was only a six inning stint to start the Nats series.

But as long as they keep winning, we’ll take it. It may only be four games against the worst team in baseball, yet it sure beats losing, come to think of it.

-Bob Warja

Derek Lee lead the Cubs with a career-high seven RBI’s on two home runs, going 2-4 on the day.

Ryan Dempster had a decent start, allowing just three earned runs in six and 2/3 innings, tying a season high with nine strikeouts.

The Cubs scored all of their runs on home runs, starting with Lee’s first home run, a three-run jack in the first inning which also drove in Sam Fuld and Ryan Theriot.

Two batters later, Jake Fox hit another home run, this one a solo shot that put the Cubs up 4-0 in the first inning.

The Brewers battled back in the second with a Mike Cameron home run that also knocked in Prince Fielder.

The Cubs again broke out in the fourth inning, starting off with a Geovany Soto solo home run with no outs.

Later inning, Lee stepped to the plate with one out and the bases loaded and drove the ball completely out of the park, also driving in Fuld, Theriot and Mike Fontenot.

The Brewers scored three more runs throughout the game, but were no match for the Cubs’ power and couldn’t pull off the comeback.

McClung only lasted three and 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs by the Cubs.

Alfonso Soriano was given his second strait game off, as the three time Silver Slugger Award winner hasn’t hit a home run since June 7 and has been batting just .179 over the last 35 games.

The nine runs were the most runs for the team since May 25 when the Cubs scored 10 runs against the Pirates. They had also been shut out twice in the four games heading into tonight.

Aramis Ramirez is slated to start his rehab tomorrow in Single A ball. Reed Johnson will start the next day, also in Single A.

Jeff Baker update

Jim Hendry had this to say about the new infielder, who will be backing up Ramirez when he makes his return.

“A different kind of player than Freel was. We thought now that he’s healthy again, he might have a little more bang … When you’re not going great and you’re not playing the way you’re capable of offensively, you just try to mix and match, get a little spark here like Sammy Fuld gave us [Wednesday] night.”

Baker had this to say.

“I’m beyond excited. Coming in here, this is one of the trips as a visitor you circle every year, and being on this side, obviously you’re excited.”

-Joe Willett

His batting average over the past five games has been a measly .095, and he hasn’t gotten a hit in his last 15 at bats.

However, today, he went 2-5 with one gigantic RBI.

The Cubs started the day locked in an outstanding pitching duel between ace Carlos Zambrano going up against White Sox stud Gavin Floyd.

Neither team scored a run until the sixth inning, as a clinic was put on by both pitchers. However, the White Sox were able to work on a home run by Alexie Ramirez, who homered in each game of this series, and were up 5-1 by the eighth inning.

The Cubs were down to two outs in the eighth when Derek Lee sparked the comeback with a 3-run homer to pull the game to 5-4, a manageable score.

Then, Geovany Soto, who has been batting .188 over the past five games, belted another home run to tie the game with two outs in the eighth inning.

All four runs that were scored in the eighth were unearned runs, thanks to an error, and all were scored against White Sox pitcher Scott Linebrink.

“I didn’t make pitches. You’ve got to make pitches against guys like that — Derrek Lee, Geovany Soto — those guys can hurt you,” Linebrink said. “And the last thing I want to do is go out there and put them in a situation where they can get back into the game.”

The Cubs used their momentum and came into the ninth still tied, and after a Reed Johnson single and Andres Blanco sacrifice, the aforementioned Soriano knocked a two out bloop single to give the Cubs the game with a score of 6-5.

“Truthfully, he’s too talented to have a valley as big as he’s been in. You can have some peaks and valleys, but he’s been in a gorge,” Lou Piniella said. “Look, for us to be a good offensive team, we need Soriano to hit. Let’s be perfectly clear about that.”

The walk-off tied the season series between the Cubs and Sox at 1-1 after the first game of the series was postponed.

The Cubs needed this win desperately after they dropped the first game of the series.

However, all of the Cubs’ problems weren’t fixed with this game, they were just 2-8 with runners in scoring position, an aspect of the game that they have been struggling with as of late.

The Cubs also needed this game to avoid falling further under .500, and with the win, they were able to get back to even at 31-31.

They also avoid falling further behind Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, as they are 0.5 games behind the Reds and four game behind the Brewers for the division lead.

Kosuke Fukudome went 0-3 on the day, bringing his hit-less streak up to 21 at bats.

The win was given to Kevin Gregg, who is 1-1 on the season. The loss was charged to Matt Thornton, who is 4-2.

The Cubs travel to Cincinnati over the next three games for a crucial series that could move them up in the NL Central Division rankings.

-Joe Willett

Fontenot went 4-5 with two runs, one RBI and a home run.  Not a bad night for the birthday boy.

But Fontenot’s night was just a footnote on a night when the Cubs were finally able to break out of the funk that they have been in all season and pull out a 7-1 win over the down-trodden Astros.

The Cubs were finally able to capitalize on a strong pitching performance, giving Ted Lilly plenty of room to sit back and pitch without pressure, and he responded well to the run support.

Lilly allowed just three hits, two walks and no runs over six and 2/3 innings.  Lilly’s strong performance was yet another quality start for one of the most consistent pitchers in the Cubs starting lineup.

He also brought a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but had it broken up by Hunter Pence.

The Cubs put up three runs in the first inning, thanks to RBI’s by Kosuke Fukudome, Derek Lee and Geovany Soto to put the Cubs up before Lilly even had to step on the mound.

Ted Lilly led off the second inning hitting a triple, and helped his cause as he scored later that inning off of an Astro error.

Birthday boy Fontenot hit a solo home run the next inning to put the Cubs up 5-0, giving a sizeable lead to Lilly.

The Cubs shut the door on the Astros in the sixth when Andres Blanco hit a ground rule double to right with the bases loaded, bringing in Lee and Fontenot and giving the Cubs a 7-0 lead.

A Lance Berkman home run in the ninth was all the offense the Astros could muster, as they fell to the Cubs 7-1, dropping the first game in this series.

The Cubs were finally able to capatalize with runners in scoring position, a quality that they had been struggling with throughout the season.

Fukudome had two RBI’s and reached base four of six times (two hits, two walks).  Lee had one RBI, went 2-3, walked three times and scored two runs.  Geovany Soto broke out of his funk as he went 3-5 with an RBI.

Astros starting pitcher Brian Moehler pitched his shortest start since he sprained his knee against Pittsburgh.  Moehler pitched just three innings and allowed five runs on eight hits.

The Cubs are now tied for second place in the NL Central, 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cubs play the Astros tomorrow at 7:05 p.m.

Rich Harden is slated to make his return on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins.

-Joe Willett

Photo from Associated Press

Without Kerry Wood, the bullpen has struggled mightily as Carlos Marmol has been much worse than last season.

The Cubs failed to back up another stellar start by Randy Wells, who took a no-hitter into the seventh and a shutout into the eighth inning, but was pulled in the eight after 83 pitches.

Despite the strong performance by Wells, the Cubs still lost the game 6-5 in extra innings, mostly thanks to yet another bullpen collapse.

Wells has started off his career with a bang, although he has yet to win a game.  Through the first five career starts, Wells still has a 1.69 ERA with a WHIP under 1.

Also, despite the low ERA, the Cubs are just 1-4 in Wells’ five starts, scoring a combined 13 runs through five games.  Wells hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any one game.

This game seemed different from the start, however, as Alfonso Soriano led the game off with a home run in the first.

Wells also helped his cause in the second inning when he knocked in Geovany Soto to get his first career RBI.

The game stayed at 2-0 until the sixth, when Derek Lee doubled in Kosuke Fukudome.  Later in the inning, Mike Fontenot hit a sac-fly to drive in Lee.

Another home run in the eighth, this one by Lee, brought the Cubs to a  comfortable five run lead, however, the game turned from there.

Wells allowed his first run of the game via a Garret Anderson home run in the bottom of the eighth.  Soon after, the game was given to the bullpen.

Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg allowed a combined three runs in two innings of work, two of which came in the ninth inning as Jeff Francoeur hit a two-out, two-run home run to tie the game in the ninth.

Neither team was able to jump ahead until the 12th inning when Yunel Escobar singled in Chipper Jones against Aaron Heilman to take the win.

The loss drops the Cubs to an even 25-25 through their first 50 games, a mark that they likely felt that they would be much better than at the start of the season.

Joe Willett

Photos from AP

The Chicago Cubs completed a three game sweep of the San Diego Padres on Thursday, as their bats came alive in a 11-3 drubbing of the Fathers. Ryan Dempster pitched well, and hit well too. He allowed two runs and three hits over seven innings and got his first and second hits of the season.

In fact, there were several big hits in the game. Bobby Scales, who continues to write a good story, drove in four runs with two ringing doubles, his first coming in a five-run fifth, following Reed Johnson’s two-run double off the wall.

The Cubs drew 10 walks in the game. It was the first home sweep for the Cubs against the Pads in 10 years.

Former Cubs pitcher Chad Gaudin, started for the Padres and was chased with one out in the fifth, having issued seven walks. He only allowed one hit to the Cubs, but was removed after issuing three consecutive walks, His record fell to 0-3 on the season.

It was good to see Hank White back in Chicago. While Koyie Hill has done a nice job backing up Geo Soto, perhaps one of the reasons for Soto’s slow start this year has been the absence of Blanco, who was considered Soto’s mentor last year.

It was surprising that Jim Hendry didn’t bring Blanco back. Blanco appeared equally puzzled when he spoke to the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan.

“You’re asking the wrong guy,” Blanco said. “I don’t know either. We did everything we could, but it didn’t happen. I’m here now. It’s a bit different, but that’s the name of the game. I did everything I could, but it happens.”

So no hard feelings?

Blanco paused a second.

“Not really,” he finally replied. “I still have a job. Of course I miss these guys a lot, but I have to get used to my new team now.”

Speaking of the Pads, Friday, May 22 at San Diego looks like the next start for Carlos Zambrano, if all goes well. Big Z will make a minor league rehab start for Daytona, after which he should rejoin the team.

The Cubs have now won four in a row, come to think of it. Houston comes in next.

-Bob Warja