Results tagged “braves”

The story of the this year's Cubs has been the lack of offense and today was no different as the Braves shut the Cubs down on the way to a 4-1 win. A sixth inning solo homer from Kosuke Fukudome was all the Cubs could muster in terms of offense. As for the pitching, the loss spoiled Kevin Hart's first major league start. Hart walked five but gave up only one run over five innings. The Braves Casey Kotchman hit a solo shot in the sixth to put the Braves up for good. Kevin Gregg had a rough ninth, allowing two runs though neither were earned; both were the result of Cubs fielding errors. All is not lost for the Cubs, though. In spite of maddening inconsistency, the Cubs get an off day tomorrow and then welcome the first-place Cardinals into town for a crucial four-game series heading into next week's All-Star Break. If the Cubs can manage to win that series, they could close the gap in the standings as well as get some sort of momentum going into the second half of the season.

The Cubs got a great start out of Carlos Zambrano, pitching on three days rest to fill in for the injured Ryan Dempster, but the bats couldn't help out as the Braves slipped past the Cubs 2-1 Tuesday night. Koyie Hill tied the game at 1-1 in the second, but it was all the offense the Cubs could produce. The Braves took a 2-1 lead in the third and then the pitching staffs took over. Zambrano gave up only the two runs over six innings, and the bullpen held tight, but scoring opportunities on offense were few and far between. Said Lou of Z's start, "He did a nice job on [three days'] rest, gave us six good innings of baseball, gave us a chance." The third and final game of the series starts today at 1:20 p.m. (CSN).

The Cubs carried momentum from their weekend series win over Milwaukee into the series with Atlanta as they ousted the Atlanta Braves 4-2 in the opening game of a three-game set. Derek Lee continued his hot summer, belting another homer, a two-run shot, in the first to give the Cubs an early 2-0 lead. Fukudome and Theriot followed up with RBIs in the second to give the Cubs all the runs they would need to pull out a win. Starter Randy Wells had a few shaky moments, but held off the Braves, allowing two runs on seven hits over six innings. The bullpen trio of Marshall-Marmol-Gregg shutout the Braves over the final three innings to secure the win; Gregg earned his 15th save. It was also the first game back in almost two months for Aramis Ramirez, who went 0 for 4. Fukudome, batting leadoff again, went 2 for 3 and Soriano was once again hitting sixth and went 1 for 4. Overall, the Cubs are now 5-1 in July and only two games out of first, something of a minor miracle. Game two of the series gets underway tonight at 7:05 p.m. (WGN).

The Cubs made a quick trip to Atlanta on a scheduled off day yesterday for a make-up game and in the end the offense took an off day anyway as the Braves shut out the North Siders 2-0, wasting a good performance by starter Ryan Dempster. Despite getting nine hits and having runners in scoring position in multiple innings, the Cubs couldn't knock in any runs off Braves starter Javier Vazquez. Jake Fox started in place of the $136 Million Dollar Man and Micah Hoffpauir started in place of Milton Bradley. Dempster saw a strong start go to waste, as he gave up only two runs and and struck out six over 6.2 innings. Said Sweet Lou, "We got enough hits. We just didn't hit with men on base. Vazquez pitched well. Both starting pitchers pitched well. But when you get 10 hits, you figure you'll score a few. We just didn't do it." Not to mention leaving 12 men on base overall. After the quick trip down South, the Cubs have huffed it back up to Detroit where they open a three-game set against the AL Central leading Tigers tonight at 6:05 p.m. (WGN).

Last night's Cubs-Braves tilt was a wash. Literally. Heavy downpours doused the stadium just before the scheduled first pitch. The game will be made up on June 22. Tonight, the Cubs travel to Cincinnati to take on the Reds in a three-game weekend series.

Cubs Own Dirty South

White Sox Break Out Brooms, Go Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back

Cubs Spank Braves In Doubleheader Sweep

Cubs Thump Braves

Sox Roll Over Royals

Well, Chicagoist had finally come to terms with the fact that Mark Buehrle's days with the White Sox were numbered. We've heard and read the daily rumors about him being traded to the Mets, the Red Sox, the Cards, the Dodgers, the Braves, etc. While we hoped the Sox would lock up the durable lefty, his looming free agency, along with his supposed desire for a five year deal and rumors that he wanted to play for his hometown Cardinals made it seem unlikely that he'd remain on the South Side as the Sox continue to head south in the standings.

In a trade that was surprising in its swiftness, the Cubs traded embattled catcher and "good guy" Michael Barrett (or "number 8" for those of you who don't visit Wrigley Field for the baseball) and cash to the San Diego Padres for backup catcher Rob Bowen and minor league prospect Kyler Burke. The trade closes the book on Barrett's three-plus years as a Cub, a time marked by emotional outbursts, an uncontrollable temper, suspect defensive...

Who do we believe -- Radar Magazine or Mark Cuban? Radar reported on Wednesday that billionaire tech entrepeneur, blogger and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team is preparing to make a $625 million bid for the Chicago Cubs. A source supposedly familiar with the situation claims, "Mark is desperate to buy the Cubs. He wants this so bad." However, Cuban's response to the Trib via email stated that the rumor was "not true." In...

Whew! We made it through all the familial obligations of the holiday season. It’s a dead week at work and that means we need some stuff to do at night. This week offers a lot of possibilities for getting together for a pint or two before we even hit New Year’s Eve. If the Christmas hangover is gone, head over to the Hideout tonight for a Boxing Day Show with Kelly Hogan and Scott Ligon....

With all the potential candidates now known, the Cubs' list to fill Dusty Baker's vacancy seems to be: Lou Piniella, Joe Girardi, Bob Brenley and maybe even Buck Showalter -- the last of the managerial casualties. Braves third base coach Fredi Gonzalez had been on early wish lists, but the Florida Marlins snatched him up within hours of dumping Girardi.

While Mark Cuban remains busy cheering his Dallas Mavericks through the NBA Finals, others interested in buying the team have been quietly meeting Tribune Company execs to inquire abou their availability. Last month, Mr. Cub himself, Ernie Banks, met with Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons to discuss buying the team. Two seperate groups have approached Banks, the Hall of Famer who played shortstop for the Cubs from 1953-1971, about participating in efforts to buy the Cubs....

March Madness resumes tonight with half the Sweet 16 teams in action. The game that's likely to garner the most local attention pits the Bradley Braves against the Memphis Tigers. Can Bradley, a 13th seed, take on #1 seed Memphis and continue the unexpected run through the NCAA Tournament? Or will tonight end a magical run by a team few expected to win even one game in the tourney. At this point, there shouldn't be...

El photo via Minneapolis Red Sox

The Cubs lost out on the Rafael Furcal sweepstakes last week, as the speedy former Braves shortstop accepted a shorter term deal from the Dodgers. Today, they finally landed a true leadoff hitter.

Atlanta is gunning for us on all fronts. First they lay claim to the title of "World's Largest Aquarium." Now their airport could become "World's Busiest" this year. Through November, they have a 7,400 flight edge on O'Hare, a net gain of almost 34,000 from last year. Chicagoist is also convinced that the Braves told Rafael Furcal to sign with the Dodgers instead of the Cubs once they realized he wanted to leave Atlanta.

Prodded by unmet expectation in '05 and a World Series title across town, Cubs GM Jim Hendry has been on a bit of a pre-holiday spending spree.

On Friday the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to give final approval to Mayor Daley’s O’Hare expansion project.

Score one for Native Americans! Following years of internal debate in the Village of Lemont, a community-wide vote this month and approval at Monday’s meeting of the District 210 Board of Education, the name “Injuns” has officially been dropped as the moniker of Lemont High School’s sports teams. The switch, to the not-so-offensive “Titans,” comes after five years of pressure from the Illinois Native American Bar Association, who are pleased with Lemont's decision but promise to continue fighting against the 27 Illinois high schools that still use “Indians” as their nicknames (not to mention the six that use “Redskins,” the three that go by “Braves” and the twenty that consider themselves “Warriors”).

There are few certainties in baseball--even fewer since the Red Sox actually won a World Series. However, one that remains is Greg Maddux winning a Gold Glove. For the 14th time in 15 years, Maddux won the award as the best fielding pitcher --Braves teammate Mike Hampton beat him out last year. Maddux becomes the first Cubs player to win a Golden Glove award since Mark Grace won the award at first base in...

The Cubs sure went out quietly, losing 7 of 9 to close out the season and missing out on making the playoffs. But the Cubs have sure made a lot of noise off the field. Everybody seems to be feuding, blaming others for the team's failures.

We're now well into the last week of baseball's regular season, and there are still a whole pack of teams fighting for that lone NL Wild Card playoff spot, with the Cubs thick in the middle.

No ticket sales will take place at the Wrigley Field box office. Instead, all sales will take place by phone or on the web. Illinois callers can call 1-800-THE-CUBS and out-of-state callers can call 1-866-652-2827. Online, you'll need to go to cubs.com. Tickets will go on sale at 9:00 am Monday, October 4th and they won't be cheap. Prices are: $70 for infield club box, $60 for outfield club box or infield field box, $50 for outfield field box, $45 for bleachers, terrace boxes and upper-deck boxes $45, $35 for terrace reserved and $25 for upper-deck reserved $25.

Remember 1987? Think Debbie Gibson, Poison, and Spuds McKenzie. That was also the last time Greg Maddux didn't win at least 15 games in a season! Maddux hit the 15 win milestone for the 17th straight year on Thursday, adding to the record he claimed from none other than Cy Young himself.

Pitching for the Cubs from 1986 to 1992, Maddux won his first 95 games for the North Siders before joining the Atlanta Braves, for whom he won another 194 games in 11 seasons. With his 11th win of the season and 106th in a Cubs uniform, he achieved the ultimate milestone for a major league pitcher. Now, Cooperstown awaits!

Winning your 300th game is a very big deal for a major league pitcher, but you wouldn't know it by the way Greg Maddux has quietly approached this milestone. By beating the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night, Greg Maddux won the 299th game of his career. With his next win, Maddux will become just the 22nd member of the exclusive 300 win club. And possibly the last to join for a while -- the only other pitcher anywhere close is former Braves teammate Tom Glavin (259 wins).