Soriano Earns Contract Alfonso Soriano finally earned his big money contract by belting three home runs Saturday night as the Cubs ended a six-game losing streak and beat the Reds 14-9. Soriano's five RBIs were the difference, though Mark DeRosa continued his career year with his 20th home run, Jason Marquis helped his own cause with a solo shot, and Derek Lee had three RBIs. Marquis pitched a good seven and 1/3 innings to get......

Cubs Slide Continues Once again, the Cubs' pitching staff got shelled and the offense failed to produced as the Cincinnati Reds slammed the Cubs 10-2 Friday night. Starter Ted Lilly only lasted two innings, giving up five runs before being relieved by Jon Lieber who gave up a grand slam to Jay Bruce. If you're counting, that's six losses in a row for the North Siders. Manager Lou Piniella said, "We're going to have to......

This has not been a very good week for Chicago baseball fans. Sure, both of our teams entered September in first place but it seems like players named Carlos are working to derail our Crosstown Series fantasies this week. On the heels of Cubs fans' panic attacks over the state of Carlos Zambrano's shoulder, now Sox fans are now getting the gut check. The team revealed this afternoon that Carlos Quentin has a broken bone......

As if balls falling out of the ivy at Wrigley weren't enough, Wednesday's Sox-Indians game was delayed...by a rogue squirrel. This is exactly what we need around lunch time on a Friday. I, for one, welcome our new squirrel overlord. I shall name him Scrappy. [via the incomparable Awful Announcing via denseland]......

An MRI confirmed today that Carlos Zambrano has inflammation and right rotator cuff tendonitis, but he's not seriously injured. GM Jim Hendry says Zambrano will start throwing again September 10 or so and should be back in the pitching rotation for the series against Houston, which starts September 12. [AP]......

In what looks to be a mediocre imitation the Sun-Times' Hottest Fans photo contest, the Trib has been featuring a photo slideshow of Cubs and Sox fans wearing out of date jerseys this week. We'd have to believe they'll soon open the floodgates for fan submissions, no? But old jersey scorn is not even a unique idea... StraightCashHomey has been making a mockery of those who wear them for a couple years now. We've even......

Cubs Drop Fifth Straight Thursday is, mercifully, an off-day for the Cubs and they need it: the Cubs were swept by the Astros in losing their fifth game in a row Wednesday night, 4-0. Ryan Dempster was pretty solid, giving up three runs and striking out seven over seven innings, but the Cubs bats were, once again, silent. No one is panicking yet, but the one stat that jumps out is that 13 men were......

Cubs Drop Fourth In A Row Has the traditional August swoon turned into a September swoon for the North Siders? The Cubs dropped their fourth game in a row Tuesday night, losing to the Houston Astros 9-7 in extra innings. Kerry Wood gave up the two-run homer to Geoff Blum. The game started out promising with Alfonso Soriano's lead-off home run, and Mark DeRosa, Geovanny Soto, and Jim Edmonds all added shots of their own......

'Stros Shutout Cubs Another good outing from a Cubs starter was wasted as the Cubs' offense couldn't get going, mustering four hits and no runs as the Astros beat the Cubs 3-0, the Cubs' third loss in a row. The loss kept the pesky Brewers only 4.5 games back as the pennant races heat up. Pitcher Jason Marquis only allowed two runs over six innings, but the Cubs left eight men on base in the......

Phils Snap Cubs Streak The Cubs' seven-game winning streak was snapped yesterday as the Phils beat the North Siders 5-2. Ted Lilly only gave up three runs over six and 2/3 inning, but the Cubs just couldn't take advantage of an eighth inning which saw the Cubs load the bases. The Tao of Lou: "We just didn't hit with men on base -- that's the storyline of that game. You can't do it every day."......

Cubs, Ramirez Rally Past Phils If this is a "playoff preview" like some think, then Cubs fans have to be feeling pretty good. Despite falling behind 4-1, the Cubs rallied past the Phils 6-4, thanks to a big eight inning with a Mike Fontenot homer and an Aramis Ramirez grand slam. Ryan Dempster pitched six innings, giving up all four Phillies runs; Bob Howry pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Kerry Wood closed......

Cubs Sweep Pirates Now that's National League baseball. Behind a strong performance from Jason Marquis (seven innings, five hits, no runs, three K's), the Cubs topped the Pirates 2-0 to sweep the series. The Cubs played small ball in the seventh to score their runs: Reed Johnson scored on a Ronny Cedeno groundout and Mark DeRosa scored on a suicide squeeze by Henry Blanco. The Cubs finished the season series with Pittsburgh, going 14-4 against......

Cubs Rally Past Pirates In a score more appropriate for a Bears-Steelers defensive struggle, the Cubs outlasted the PIrates 14-9 in a game where effective pitching was nowhere to be found. Geovany Soto was the definite MVP of the game, knocking in seven runs and scoring three. Alfonso Soriano went three-for-six and scored twice. Carols "The Molar" Zambrano struggled in the first inning, giving up three runs. Overall, he gave up six runs in four......

Starting Thursday, Major League Baseball will begin using instant replay for some home run calls. For now, video will be used only on so-called "boundary calls," such as determining whether fly balls went over the fence, whether potential home runs were fair or foul and whether there was fan interference on potential home runs. The crew chief decides when to use the replay, when to reverse a call, and where to place runners. Lou, Ozzie,......

Cubs Take Series From Nats On the back of another Mark DeRosa home run and seven huge innings from Rich Harden, the Cubs took game three and the series from the Washington Nationals with a 6-1 victory. Harden struck out 11 en route to his ninth victory of the season. Geovany Soto and K-Fuk added two-run shots of their own as the Cubs hit the road for a three-game series in Pittsburgh to begin the......

Cubs Crush Nats A pair of Aramis Ramirez three-run homers and a strong outing from Ryan Dempster helped the Cubs cruise past the visiting Washington Nationals 9-2 on Saturday afternoon. Dempster gave up eight hits but allowed only one run in seven and a third innings of work to to tie his career-high with his 15th win of the season. Said Dempster, "The most I've ever won in my career is 15, and it's nice......

Cubs Slip to Reds In spite of a stellar outing for Ted Lilly (including a no-hitter through five innings), the Cubs weren't able to generate any offense as they fell to the Cincinnati Reds 2-1. Lilly gave up two runs over seven innings and struck out seven. Of course, more impressive was Reds' starter Bronson Arroyo, who only gave up one run and three hits. Said Lilly, ""I was throwing the ball pretty good. "I......

White Sox Pummel Mariners, Take Back First Place The Emotional Roller-Coaster That Is The 2008 Chicago White Sox™ continues: despite giving up three first inning runs, the White Sox overcame the shaky start to blast the visiting Seattle Mariners, 13-5, and climb back into first place. Mark Buehrle gave up all five runs on eleven hits in five and 2/3 innings of work, but got plenty of support from his offense to earn the win.......

Cubs Edged By Fish Sean Marshall was outdueled by Anibal Sanchez as the Cubs lost to the Marlins 2-1, ending their road winning streak at nine games. Henry Blanco's solo home run in the fourth was the only offense the Cubs mustered off of Sanchez. Not that Marshall was a slouch himself: he gave up only two runs and struck out eight in five innings. Hanley Ramirez provided an offensive spark for the Marlins right......

In the heat of a division race, with a pitching staff that's seen its ERA climb in each of the past four months, the last thing the White Sox needed was to lose a part of their starting rotation. In fact, the Sox were hoping to get back a key component of their rotation when Jose Contreras, who'd been out since July 13 because of elbow tendinitis, pitched Saturday night. Instead, they lost Contreras to......

Cubs Take Series From Cards Taking advantage of Cardinal miscues and a strong outing from Ryan Dempster, the Cubs took the final game of their series with the Cardinals, 6-2. Dempster gave up two runs on six hits over six and 2/3 innings. The Cubs offensive spark came in the sixth inning when a pair of Cardinal errors led to five runs as the Cubs tagged the Cards (still struggling) bullpen. Mark DeRosa and Ronny......

According to a new analysis from Forbes magazine, Cubs fans are the fourth most loyal in baseball, behind the Rangers, Red Sox and Braves. Loyalty here is measured as the relationship between winning percentage and attendance since 1991: "The faster that fans boosted attendance and the more hastily they abandoned poor performance indicated fans who were less loyal." Baseball's least-loyal? Angels fan. [Forbes]......

When Wrigley Field joined the 20th century and added lights to the stadium in 1988, part of the team's agreement with the city banned night games on Fridays or Saturdays. Now the Cubs want that ban lifted. The Cubs and the city originally agreed to 18 night games per season at the Friendly Confines. Later amendments have increased that total to 30, but the weekend ban remains in place. The Cubs claim that their desire......

The White Sox limp home after a 10-game road trip that most certainly did not end on a high note Sunday. The team lost 14-3 to the lowly Kansas City Royals, in a game that saw a bench clearing brawl and numerous ejections. With the bases loaded, Sox pitcher D.J. Carrasco hit the Royals' Miguel Olivo with a pitch, which the ump called intentional. That lead to the melee, and the ejection of both Carrasco......

Perhaps a few years later than initially expected, the White Sox are rumored to be acquiring Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. before today's trading, deadline according to FoxSports. The deal, in which the Sox will give up prospects, is supposedly awaiting Griffey's approval—he's a 10-and-5 player—before being officially announced. With the Sox in first place at the deadline, GM Ken Williams is looking to add the final pieces to ensure his team can compete through......

Even before William Ligue Jr. ran onto the field at Comiskey Park and attacked a Royals coach, Cubs fans have tried to pin the undeserving "violent" label as a negative stereotype of Sox fans [Ed.'s note: It probably has something to do with incidents like this]. Never mind that Ligue admitted to actually being a Cubs fan... or that it was outside Wrigley Field that a fan was shot and killed [Ed's note: Touché, Lipsman].......

We told you earlier about the big brawl down in Peoria last night. And now there's video. It look like it's been filmed by the kids from Cloverfield, so watch at your own risk if you get motion sickness. In a related note, President Bush is visiting Peoria today, and being a former baseball owner, we're wondering if he'll weigh in on the mess.......

The Peoria Chiefs — the Cubs' Class A Midwest League affiliate — took part in a major league bench clearing brawl Thursday night (video here) with the Dayton Dragons. Fifteen players and both managers were ejected from the game as a result of the melee and one fan was taken to the hospital after being hit by a ball thrown by pitcher Julio Castillo. He'd been aiming for the Dayton dugout. Guess we know why......

The Tribune is reporting that longtime newspaperman, historian, Baseball Hall-of-Famer and Chicago native Jerome Holtzman has passed away over the weekend from a major stroke at the age of 82. Born on December 11, 1926, Mr. Holtzman began his career as a copyboy at the Chicago Daily News. He eventually wrote for every major local daily published in this city before retiring from the Tribune in 1999 to become the official historian for Major League......

Lord, the All Star Break has seemed almost as tortuously long as the All Star Game itself. But we're finally back to ball as both the Sox and Cubs hit the field tonight for the first time since Sunday. While both teams stand at the top of their division, most national attention will be focused on the Cubs as they try to snap their century-long title drought. We shudder at the number of times the......