The Cubs entered their game against the Philadelphia Phillies with four straight wins and hoping to sweep a second straight two-game series after taking the first game last night in convincing fashion.

This game was much closer, and was included multi-hit games by both historically-underwhelming Mike Fontenot and rookie Starlin Castro.

In the ninth inning, the Cubs were down just one run and going up against former crosstown rival Jose Contreras and started off the inning with a bang.

Alfonso Soriano took somewhere near 500 pitches and broke two bats before getting hit by a pitch. With some good timing, Soriano was able to make it to third thanks to a hit-and-run, the hit coming via blooper to center from Fontenot.

So the Cubs have had back-to-back solid at bats, Contreras has already thrown more pitches than he was expecting to throw and he has yet to record an out with the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on first.

After Starlin Castro strikes out, Aramis Ramirez comes up, only needing to put the ball in the outfield for the at-bat to be considered a success, and he strikes out while swinging at a ball that he couldn’t have connected with if he were standing on home plate.

Ramirez is just two nights removed from a game winning home run in the 11th against the Colorado Rockies, an event that had some Chicagoans proclaiming that his slump was over and he was ready to start performing again.

Little did those Chicagoans know that he would go 0-8 over the next three games, striking out three times and drawing one walk.

Ramirez has the second-worst batting average among hitters with at least 120 plate appearances, something that no player just a two seasons removed from an All Star game appearance should have.

Having one player who is having a season this bad is something that a team can overcome, but when you throw in the fact that Derek Lee, star first baseman, is 28th on that list with a batting average of .226.

The combo of Lee and Ramirez, usually the meat of the Cubs lineup, have 61 hits this season with 70 strikeouts.

Meanwhile, six Chicago Cubs have batting averages over .300. They have also struggled to knock in runs, Lee and Ramirez are fourth and fifth on the Cubs in RBI, a statistic where they generally fight it out for first place.

They wouldn’t even be that high if it weren’t for their position in the lineup for most of the season.

Lee and Ramirez have always been player with great power and production who only needed consistent production before them. This season, they are getting just that with Kosuke Fukudome and Ryan Theriot batting 1-2 and each having batting averages of .310.

Theriot has even done a good job of becoming a decent base-running threat, stealing seven bases thus far, putting him at a tie for 22nd in the majors.

With the starting rotation, bullpen, and everybody around them getting their act together, Lee and Ramirez are the only two keeping the Cubs from taking charge of the mediocre NL Central.

At only five games out of the lead, a break out by these two players would catapult the Cubs into the drivers seat for a playoff spot.

I’m Joe W.

All was well in Wrigleyville.

Fast-forward to present day and the Cubs are 14-20 and coming off of being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates (14-19) and about to suffer the same fate against the Florida Marlins (16-17) pending tomorrow’s matinee as the Cubs try to stop their four game slide.

So one big question continues to pop up in my mind, as I always love to play the blame game. That question is…

Who is at fault for this horrible excuse for a team that takes the field in Chicago Cub uniforms?

It certainly isn’t Marlon Byrd, who I didn’t expect to repeat his numbers last season, but who is surprising me by playing well game in and game out. He is batting .339 with six home runs and 23 RBI.

It surprisingly isn’t Carlos Silva, who could have destroyed the Cubs every five games. He is 3-0 with a 3.50 ERA and a WHIP of just 1.17.

It isn’t Kosuke Fukudome, who is batting .330 with five home runs and 18 RBI.

Alfonso Soriano? Batting .311 with seven home runs and 18 RBI.

It’s not Tom Gorzelanny. Despite being 1-3 his ERA is just 2.83 and he is striking out 9.86 batters every nine innings.

You can’t blame Carlos Marmol, the up and down pitcher has yet to allow a home run, saved four games in five attempts, and has an ERA of just 0.61 in 14 appearances. He would just love to close out more games for the Cubs but he doesn’t get the chance.

So who are the people that are most deserving of the blame if it isn’t all of these guys who could have easily laid a goose egg this season instead of being the only people playing well?

It’s Ted Lilly. He’s 1-3 with a 4.88 ERA, his second highest since his third season in the pros.

It’s Carlos Zambrano, the “ace” who has pitched so bad this season that he has earned himself a spot in the bullpen. He would be known as the other Carlos if it weren’t for his nearly $19 million salary. If you aren’t happy about your new bullpen spot, try getting your ERA below six.

It’s Aramis Ramirez who is batting just .156 with three home runs and said today that he was his own hitting coach. He may want to fire his hitting coach.

It’s Derek Lee, who must have hired Ramirez as his hitting coach. He’s batting just .220 this season with four home runs.

Although Lee and Ramirez have decent RBI numbers this season, it’s hard not to when you have Byrd, Fukudome and Ryan Theriot in front of them. Those three have no problem getting on base, and would have less trouble scoring if it weren’t for the production behind them.

It’s the defense, which has 28 errors already this season, tying for second with the Detroit Tigers in the entire MLB. This also puts them alone in second in fielding percentage this season thus far.

With every person who needed to play at their best doing just that, you would expect the Cubs to be above .500 and surprising every analyst who expected the Cubs to be a flop this season, instead, every player who was actually expected to play well decided to take the season off.

Sorry Silva, Soriano, Fukudome, Marmol, Gorzelanny and Byrd. You did everything you could to prove your haters wrong. If you keep doing this, maybe those who were expected to play well will use you as an example instead of the other way around.

I’m Joe W.

Here are a few stories that have happened over the past few days.

Aramis Ramirez returns to the diamond

Ramirez has missed some time this spring because of a sore right tricep, but he returned on Tuesday against the Royals as a DH and went 2-3 with an RBI. He hasn’t played since March 13th, but he looked like he hadn’t missed any time in his three at bats.

Lou Piniella wanted to get Ramirez 30 at bats before the season started, but Ramirez doesn’t think that’s necessary.

“I don’t need 30 at-bats,” Ramirez said. “Five more and I’ll be ready to go. I haven’t played in 11 days, 10 days, and I felt pretty good today. I don’t need that many at-bats.”

Although Ramirez missed significant time last season, this injury doesn’t appear to be linked to that one, and there shouldn’t be any cause to worry about Ramirez having injury trouble this season too.

Ted Lilly far ahead of schedule

Piniella expected Lilly to be back by May 1st when he originally hurt himself, but with the way that he has been progressing, he is expected to be back well before then. This would be big for the Cubs starting rotation, as Lilly has had some of the best years of his career with the Cubs.

Although he isn’t going to be making a Cactus League start like originally planned, he will be pitching in the minors this weekend. He is expected to return about halfway through April now.

Tim Kurkjian gives the Cubs a legit chance for the playoffs

Although all of the talk in the NL Central has gone to the St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols, the Cubs aren’t looking to just roll over and concede the division, and Kurkjian says that they do have a shot.

He cites Carlos Zambrano’s new health, stability at closer with Carlos Marmol, Ted Lilly returning early, Rudy Jaramillo’s impact on the offense and Kosuke Fukudome making the switch to right field as reasons whey the Cubs should be optimistic for the season.

These are all great reasons why the Cubs, despite making very few changes to to their lineup, should be feeling a lot better this season than they did last season.

Greg Maddux gets rave reviews from Jim Hendry

Although Jaramillo will be helping the offense, Maddux will be working with the pitchers in some capacity, as he works with different people throughout the Cubs organization working on finding a job that he would be able to do in the future.

According to ESPN, Maddux has worked with Carlos Zambrano, Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny and Sean Marshall this spring, which could have a big impact this season, as these are four of the pitchers that the Cubs need to step up this season, along with Carlos Marmol.

If Maddux’s impact on the team is as big as Hendry thinks it is, then the Cubs could see big improvements from their pitching staff.

I’m Joe W.

Their corner-infielders have become stars in Chicago, and they have had lovable middle-infielders as well.

Here is a look at the expected starting line-up for the infield:

C: Geovany Soto
1B: Derek Lee
2B: Mike Fontenot
SS: Ryan Theriot
3B: Aramis Ramirez

This will likely be the strong point for the Cubs, as it has been for the past couple of years.

Lee and Ramirez had great offensive seasons last year, combining for 50 home runs and 176 RBI, despite Ramirez missing major time due to injury.

Both had averages over .300 and OBP’s near .400, and they will need to continue that success if the Cubs want to have any chance at winning the NL Central.

Theriot and Fontenot were both Cubbie favorites while they were splitting time at their respective positions, but once they were given the reigns, they somewhat disappointed.

Although Theriot was still average on offense for a shortstop…despite a slight drop off from his career stats, he wasn’t far below his career averages.

Theriot will likely be backed up by Andres Blanco, who isn’t as stellar offensively but has a lot to offer with his glove.

However, Fontenot was unable to capitalize on his Cubbie fame and batted a lowly .236 with an OBP of .301, not something you want from a guy who doesn’t have a lot of power.

Fontenot needs to be careful because the Cubs have a lot of young talent at second base, and if he doesn’t pick up the pace he could be replaced by Jeff Baker.

Baker came to the Cubs last season from the Colorado Rockies, and was solid when he was able to play. He hit .305 with four home runs in 69 games in a Cub uniform.

After a tantalizing rookie season, Soto had a bad case of the sophomore slump. He followed up his rookie campaign of batting .285 with 23 home runs and 86 RBI by batting .218 with 11 home runs and 47 RBI’s.

Soto is going to need to work on his swing and get back to the magic that made his rookie season or he might see more and more of his playing time going to Koyie Hill, who is a really good defensive catcher.

The Cubs have a solid infield this season, but there could be some changes throughout the season to shore up short stop and catcher.

I’m Joe W.

I was asked by Bleacher Report to do an article on Michael Jordan, and I got the first six bottles of Jordan Gatorade produced, check it out if you can here.

I am also going to be part of the new and exciting Fan Huddle. It is launching September 10th of this season. Everything looks outstanding and there are a ton of dedicated writers who can fill you in on any team you want. If you want to check out my writing I will be doing fantasy basketball analysis for the NBA Central Division. To read any of my work there, go to FanHuddle.com any date after September 10th.

Now on to Cubs analysis. I will start by giving my thoughts on the team in two words.

They suck.

Now on to why the suck.

Most recently, they suck because they couldn’t even do what they prided themselves on directly after the All-Star Break. You will recall that they beat up on the lowly Nationals and Reds, then lost two of three to the strong Phillies.

Last night, they got strait up run by the Nats, losing by a final of 15-6. Really? The Nationals beat a team 15-6? In fact, it was the most runs the Nationals have scored all season, and they did so against our “ace” Carlos Zambrano.

Come on Big Z, your ERA rose from 3.35 to 3.80 in one game, just 4.1 innings, and in August. That number should never jump that high this late in the season. But that’s what happens when you allow eight runs in just over four innings.

But it wasn’t just last night, since their magical 14-5 start to the second half that saw them even take the lead in the division, they have been just plain awful, going 5-13 and dropping to nine games out of the lead in the division and 8.5 games out of the Wild Card.

They lost two of three to the horrible Padres, and three of four to the struggling Dodgers. So there has to be a reason for all of this horrible play right? Lets take a look at the people who are to blame for this.

Kevin Gregg is the biggest reason for the recent downfall in my opinion. Unlike a starting pitcher, a loss means that he did something wrong and screwed up the game. He has three losses this month compared to just two saves. No closer should ever, ever, ever have more losses than saves for an entire month.

Even his one win this month came after he blew a save, which, in my opinion, should not be counted for a win, so excluding that win, lets take a look at his stats for the month of August. 0-3, 9.00 ERA, 2 saves, 3 blown saves, 9 K, 5 home runs against. That’s our closer, but at least he is only ruining us for $4,200,000.

But our closing pitcher isn’t the only one to blame here, let’s start playing the blame game with some other players who, well, deserve it.

Let’s pick on Milton Bradley A.K.A The Lefty Bat to Put the Cubs Over the Top. Sure, he went 4-4 last night with a home run, but that home run made the game 12-5, hardly an important knock. We also can’t overlook the goose-egg he laid in the hit column against the Dodgers. Four games not a single hit.

Last night was also his last multi-hit game since August 11th when he went 2-6 against the Phillies. One multi-hit game every two weeks doesn’t cut it in the majors, especially when we are paying you $7,000,000 (I type out the zeroes so you can see just how much this man is draining from the Cubs).

However, just because Bradley is new doesn’t mean that he is the biggest drain on the Cub’s wallet. Just look at Alfonso Soriano, the $17,000,000 mistake (see the recurring theme).

Soriano hasn’t had a multi-hit game since August 7th, and he is still on that streak. But the more important streak for Soriano is his hitless streak. He hasn’t gotten a hit since August 20th, although he has been injured for two of those games, he is still on a three game hitless streak.

Now he is officially day-to-day and it seems like he has tendinitis. However, his absence may help the team more than it hurts it. He is batting .157 this month without a single home run (a streak that goes back to July 29th) and just four RBI’s.

John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny, you have been great since you came to the Cubs. Grabow, you still haven’t allowed a run since putting on a Cubs uniform. Gorzelanny, you have had two bad starts, but add in your three good ones, and you’re doing better than most wearing Cubbie blue.

Sorry you couldn’t get to play for a contender like you thought you would.

Randy Wells, Micah Hoffpauir, Jake Fox, Jeff Baker, Aramis Ramirez, Koyie Hill, Derek Lee and Ted Lilly, you did all you could to keep this broken ship from sinking. Sorry you had to be here for such a disappointing season.

-Joe Willett

Before the All-Star Break, the Cubs split a four-game series with the Cards. Since the break, however, the Cubs are 8-2. The Cardinals are 4-6 since the break, including losing two of three against the Phillies in their most recent series.

The Cards now go from facing the defending champions to facing this season’s best team, the L.A Dodgers, in a four-game series. The Cubs face the Astros, and have a chance to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the division.

But what has caused the Cubs recent resurgence?

It starts with the starting pitching staff. Kevin Hart has been Randy Wells II, starting three games and not allowing more than two runs in any start.

With Ted Lilly on the DL, the Cubs will need him to continue playing at a high level, and if he does, then the Cubs may not even need to trade for a starting pitcher. But more on trades later.

Rich Harden has been struggling all season, but in his last three starts, he hasn’t allowed multiple runs to cross the plate. He has dropped his ERA from 5.47 to 4.55 in that span.

However, the pitching staff is not the only reason for the Cubs making waves in the second half.

Before the break, the Cubs scored an average of 4.1 runs a game, since the break, that number has been 5.6.

The reason for the sudden increase in runs has been the revival of Kosuke Fukudome, Milton Bradley, Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez.

Fukudome was batting .255 before the break, in the ten games since, he has been batting .382 with an OBP of .477 and an OPS of 1.006.

Bradley was looked at as the disappointment of the century when he came to the Cubs and was essentially awful. However, since the break, he has been better in every facet of the game.

Bradley’s average, OBP, slugging, and OPS have all been at or above league average. However, you can’t look at this as just ten games for him, as these have come after he spent a few days out of the lineup and working with manager Lou Piniella on his swing.

Ramirez wasn’t exactly playing bad before the break, he just was out of the lineup. However, Ramirez has been having a career year in every offensive category that goes by an average.

His return has been a big part in the Cubs recent run, as they are 11-6 since he made his return to the lineup.

Soriano has been streakier than he has ever been this season, and he knows it. But his .444 average since the All-Star Break has been a big part of the Cubs coming back.

“I remember with the Yankees and Texas, I was also [streaky],” he said. “But what’s happened this season never happened to me before. I’ve cooled off for two to three weeks before, but never for a month and a half. That’s the first time in my life.”

But while all these players have been coming from virtually nowhere to make big contributions, the Cubs still will likely need to make a deadline to have a legitimate chance at taking their NL Central lead and turning it into a World Series.

They still have inconsistent bullpen play from most everybody besides Kevin Gregg, and could use another lefty bullpen arm. Despite Sean Marshall’s current 8.2 inning scoreless streak, the bullpen still lacks depth.

Bullpen depth could come with Baltimore Orioles reliever George Sherrill, whom the Cubs have been rumored to be interested in.

Sherrill has a sub-2.5 ERA and has 20 saves this season. A new arm in the bullpen is needed with the Harden, Wells and Hart in the starting rotation, who usually won’t give the bullpen a night off.

However, they are also said to be eying Orlando Cabrera, who can play both second or short stop. Cabrera, currently on the Oakland A’s, also has the Twins interested in him.

Cabrera would make a lot of sense for the Cubs, who could use some middle-infield depth, as Aaron Miles has been struggling in the minors and might not make it back to the majors this season.

Cabrera brings a consistent bat, solid defense, and some speed when he gets on base. He would solidify the infield and give Mike Fontenot a chance to play from the bench, where he thrived from last season.

However, the biggest potential move might not even involve a trade. With the recent signing of B.J Ryan, the Cubs are hoping that he can return to his dominant ways.

He has been working his way through the minors, and has been moved up to the AAA Iowa Cubs roster. Reports are that he has pitched well at every level so far.

“The guy has a good history and has pitched in the ninth inning in huge games,” general manager Jim Hendry said. “We wouldn’t ask him to do that. If it works, he can maybe add to the pen with ( Sean) Marshall.”

Whatever the Cubs do this season, they will need to continue their strong play, as the Cardinals just got Matt Holliday, and they won’t be playing the Phils and Dodgers every game.

-Joe Willett

The only team that has underachieved more has been the Yankees, but since A-Rod came back, they have been on a tear, which leaves the Cubs all alone.

However, through the past five games, they have gone 4-1, which may be an anomaly in a disappointing season, but it could also start to signal change.

However, the Cubs haven’t been pulling off small, one-run wins.  They have won three of their past four wins by at least three runs.

Also, they have had outstanding pitching over the past five games.  They haven’t allowed more than two runs in any game, and they have allowed just a combined six runs in the past five games.

Another nice thing that has happened has been the resurgence of Milton Bradley, who has been the biggest bust on the Cubs so far this season.

Over the past week, Bradley is batting .400, and has brought his average up to .223 on the season.  He has also hit a home run and has five RBI’s.

However, the most interesting part of this five game span, is that they have been winning with multiple important players stuck on the DL.

Rich Harden, Aramis Ramirez, Aaron Miles and Ryan Freel all get decent playing time and all are currently on the DL.

When the Cubs get healthy, they may be able to continue their resurgence and come back with a vengeance.

Who knows, maybe they could jump out of fourth place in the division and start doing what we all thought that they would do this season.

Then again, it’s only five games, and maybe I’m putting a bit to much emphasis on it.

-Joe Willett

All photos taken by the Associated Press

Despite not pitching deep into the games, both Jason Marquis (5.1 IP) and Rich Harden (five IP) pitched effectively and got the win.

The game one hitting stars were Jim Edmonds and Geo Soto, while Fosuke Fukudome and Aramis Ramirez were the best in game two.

Which brings me to a question: didn’t Lou cause a stir the other day when he suggested that Kosuke would be hitting the pine more often due to his anemic hitting? So what does Sweet Lou do?

He starts Foo Man Choo in both games of the DH. Normally, even players going well get one of the games off. But no, not this time.

And it’s a good thing this happened, for Kosuke got two hits and drove in two runs in the second game.

Like Max Madsen, Lou may be mad and bad, but he’s not crazy…

With the wins, the Cubs moved ever closer to the Holy Grail of .500 on the road, improving to 28-30.

They go for the series sweep on Thursday, my birthday, with veteran lefties, Ted Lilly and Tom Glavine scheduled to start.

A win on my b-day is the only present I need, come to think of it.

-Bob Warja

The Cubs then broke open the game in the sixth inning when they scored five runs. Kosuke Fukudome got the scoring started when he hit a two-run triple that scored both Derrek Lee and Ramirez. Ramirez ended the day going 4-5 with three doubles, an RBI, and two runs scored.

Shorly after Mark Derosa drove in his second RBI of the game on a single that scored Fukudome. Zambrano also got into the action from the plate as he hit a single which drove in Derosa.

The final run of the inning came in on a Alfonso Soriano sac fly that drove in Mike Fontenot giving the Cubs a big 6-0 lead. The Cubs then added another run in the ninth on a Aramis Ramirez single that drove in Ryan Theriot to make the score 7-0.

The Brewers lone run came in the bottom of the ninth when Mike Cameron doubled off of Jeff Samardzija which drove in Russell Branyan.

Carlos Zambrano was awesome as he pitched eight solid innings allowing no earned runs while giving up just five hits and striking out nine. Zambrano improved to 12-4 with the victory.

As for the Brewers Ben Sheets he put in 5 1/3 innings allowing six earned runs on eleven hits while striking out four. With the loss Sheets fell to 10-4 on the season.
The Cubs are now 63-44 and they hold a three game lead on the Brewers.

The Cubs have assured that they will leave Milwaukee leading the NL Central with Tuesday’s Victory.

Tomorrow the Cubs will send Ryan Dempster to the mound who is 11-4 with a 2.99 era as Manny Parra who is 9-3 with a 3.72 era will go for the Brewers. Game time is set for 7:05 pm.

-Kevin Graczyk

They send three players who will start, three pitchers, and one reserve.

So what is the scouting report on each player that is reppen Cubbie blue?

Gevoany Soto

Soto has been a great addition for the Cubs and has helped get the taste of Michael Barrett out of our mouthes.

He is batting .291 with 14 home runs and 51 RBI’s, outstanding numbers for any player, especially a catcher who spends the game destroying their knees.

It’s not his first All-Star game, he has been to two minor league All-Star games.

Kosuke Fukudome

Fukudome has been a big addition from the Cubs in his first season from Japan. He has helped the Cubs be a more patient team, and his stats aren’t half bad either.

He has a .285 batting average with seven home runs, 35 RBI’s, eight stolen bases, and a .391 OBP.

He’s not only an offensive player, he is a great defensive player as well, shown by his many diving catches this season as well as winning a Gold Glove in Japan.

Alfonso Soriano

Soriano may have spent a lot of time on the DL, but he has been good when he has played.

Despite being a streaky player who has missed time, he still has 15 home runs, 40 RBI’s, and seven stolen bases with a .283 batting average.

Soriano has also been voted in for his defense, which has been stellar throughout his career.

Ryan Dempster

Dempster has been a big surprise for the Cubs ever since moving back from the closer spot.

This season, he has a 3.24 ERA, a 9-3 record, and 91 strikeouts, and emerged as a solid number two on the Cubs.

Carlos Zambrano

Zambrano has been stellar like always for the Cubs, which has earned him yet another All-Star selection.

Zambrano has been pitching especially well this season, however, currently at 9-3 with a 2.96 ERA and 73 strike outs.

Kerry Wood

Wood has been another big surprise for the Cubs. He was expected to be a good middle relief pitcher at best, but he has stepped into the closer role perfectly.

He has 22 saves so far this season, second in the NL, as well as a 2.91 ERA, which means he is only going to give up a run once every 3 games.

Aramis Ramirez

Ramirez has been just as good as always, bringing power to the middle of the lineup. He has also been a good defensive player despite his lack of quickness.

He has 15 home runs on the season, which puts him on pace for yet another season with over 30 homers. He is also batting .280 with 57 RBI’s.

So there you have it, the Cubs All-Stars.

Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July’s, and enjoy todays game against the Cards.