The White Sox have been awarded the claim on Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez after no National League team claimed him and the other two teams that put a claim on him - Tampa Bay and Texas, according to sources - had higher winning percentages. But the Sox are still a few steps from calling Manny one of their own. The Dodgers don't necessarily have to work out a trade for Manny with the Sox and Manny has his own no-trade clause he can enforce to stay in L.A. Or the Dodgers just simply decide to keep Manny. The deadline for the Sox to work out a trade is 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. more ›

The trade deadline is less than two hours away and while we wait to see what moves the Sox make, the Cubs have made their big move, sending pitcher Ted Lilly, infielder Ryan Theriot, and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Blake DeWitt and two prospects, pitchers Brett Wallach and Kyle Smit. DeWitt and Theriot are almost identical, the exception being that DeWitt is younger (24 as opposed to Theriot's 30) and cheaper. Lilly's 3-8 record this year has been underscored by lack of run support - second worst for any major league pitcher. Bleed Cubbie Blue speculates this will mean a return to the rotation very soon for Carlos Zambrano and that Jeff Samardizja will be brought up from Iowa to take a spot in the bullpen. Not a whole lot is known about the youngsters Wallach and Smit. The Cubs will also send $2.5 million to the Dodgers to help cover part of Lilly's salary. more ›

Sox Slug Way To Top Of Division more ›

A strong outing from Gavin Floyd helped propel the Sox to a 5-1 win over the Royals, their seventh straight victory. Floyd allowed one run over 7.2 innings, striking out four, to get the win. Carlos Quentin provided the offensive spark with two homers: a solo shot in the second to get the scoring started and a two-run shot that capped off a four-run fifth inning. Gordon Beckham also homered in the win. And one more bit of Sox news: Paul Konerko will be an All-Star after all, having been selected to replace the injured Justin Morneau at Tuesday's game in Anaheim. Youngster Dan Hudson will make his first start of the year for the Sox as they look for the series sweep (1:05 p.m., CSN). more ›

The White Sox have started another significant winning streak which is now at six straight after last night's 8-2 win over the Royals. The win helped the Sox keep paced with division-leading Detroit (just a half-game back) who is on a winning streak of their own (four games). A.J. Pierzynski hit a pair of homers and Andruw Jones had two RBI as well to push along the Sox offensive output. Mark Buehrle got his eighth win of the year, pushing him above .500 at 8-7, with seven innings of scoreless pitching. The Sox are 23-5 over their last 28 games and the success is echoed by the team. Said Buehrle, "We're starting to believe it. I think if we would have said we were going to win that quick and be back in it as quick as we did, I don't think anybody would have believed us. We just want to keep on going." The Sox hope to keep it going to seven straight when they take on the Royals again tonight (6:05 p.m., WGN). more ›

Dodgers Drop Cubs more ›

The day after a game was disrupted by a power outage, the Cubs didn't exactly pile up the runs today but they didn't have to, riding a strong pitching performance by Ted Lilly to a 1-0 win over the Dodgers in the rubber game of their three game series. Lilly struck out five and allowed only three hits over seven shut-out innings (but got a no-decision); Sean Marshall pitched a scoreless eighth for the hold and Carlos Marmol hurled a shutout ninth for the save. The Cubs got the only run of the game in the eighth when Tyler Colvin doubled to right, scoring Mike Fontenot; they had a chance to add another run with Colvin on third with one out but weren't able to knock him in. With the win, the Cubs have now won eight of their last 11 games and are 23-25, 4.5 games back (as of post time) of first place Cincinnati. It's the kind of momentum they need going into a three-game series against the rival St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley this weekend, starting tomorrow afternoon (1:20 p.m., WGN). more ›

Last night's game between the Cubs and Dodgers will likely be remembered for its wacky interruption - a power outage that shut off the Wrigley Field lights in the fourth inning. But a game of baseball was also played and the Cubs suffered their own power outage, falling 8-5 to Los Angeles. Tom Gorzelanny gave up seven runs - five earned - over five innings. The Cubs, as usual, struggled with knocking home runners, batting 3 for 15 with runners in scoring position and stranding nine men on base. In the third, they had the bases loaded with no outs but only brought in one run when Mike Fontenot was hit by a pitch. Down 7-2 late, the Cubs knocked in a few runs but never got a full rally going. As for the power outage, which delayed the game for 18 minutes, ComEd reported a falling tree on Racine as the culprit. It's the third light outage at Wrigley since they were installed in 1988 and the first time since 2003. The teams tango one more time this afternoon (1:20 p.m., CSN). more ›

Cubs Blank Dodgers more ›

Juan Pierre is returning to Chicago while the move means Scott Podsednik will likely once more bid good-bye to the Sox. Pierre, who played with the Cubs in 2006, was acquired by the White Sox from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for a pair of minor leaguers to be named later. Pierre will bat lead-off for the Sox and speculation is that this means Podsednik's second stint with the Sox is done. The Trib's Dave van Dyck projects Pierre to start in left field with Alex Rios in center and Carlos Quentin in right. Of the $18.5 million left on Pierre's contract, the Dodgers will cover $10.5 million with the Sox paying $3 million in 2010 and $5 million in 2011. more ›

The Sox and Dodgers played extra baseball and in the end it came down to Scott Podsednik who provided the heroics for the Pale Hose, driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 13th to give the Sox the 6-5 victory. The Sox found themselves down 4-0 going into the bottom of the fifth as the Dodgers knocked around starter Clayton Richard. But then in the fifth the Sox started the comeback, courtesy of a Konerko solo shot and an RBI triple from Wise. The Sox then went ahead in the sixth thanks to A.J. Pierzynski's three-run homer only to see the Dodgers tie the game at 5-5 in the seventh. But the Sox bullpen went into lockdown mode as Scott Linebrink, Matt Thornton, Bobby Jenks, Octavio Dotel and Aaron Poreda combined for 0 runs and 8 K's over six innings of relief. Poreda ultimately got the win when, in the bottom of the 13th, Podsednik knocked a two-out bases loaded single for the win. Afterward, Podsednik said, "Game-winning hits are always fun, but most importantly, to win the series against a club like the Dodgers, who came into town with the best record, maybe that will give us some momentum here. We haven't been playing that great at home, so maybe that will give us some momentum going into the Cubs series." more ›

The Cubs missed a bundle of opportunities to score en route to a 5-3 loss in Detroit last night, their third straight loss. Overall, the team batted 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. Geovany Soto showed some power with a solo shot and Derek Lee extended his hitting streak to 21 games but the Cubs inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities sank them. Rich Harden also struggled on the mound, losing his third straight decision as he gave up four runs - two earned - over 5.1 innings pitched. Not that the bullpen fared much better as both Heilman and Marmol walked in runs. The series finale starts at 12:05 p.m. this afternoon (WGN). more ›

John Danks gave the White Sox his third straight quality start, but it wasn't enough to deliver a win as the Sox bullpen and bats couldn't hold up their end of the bargain and the Sox fell 5-2. Danks was rough early, giving up three runs in the first two innings, but then settled down and held the Dodgers scoreless for the remainder of his seven innings. But his early stumbles, including a two-run homer given up to LA's James Loney in the second, were too much for the Sox to overcome. Matt Thornton gave up two runs in relief in the eighth to help LA along to victory. Of course, credit is also due to LA's starter, Hiroki Kuroda, who held the Sox to two runs on four hits over 8.2 innings. Paul Konerko provided an offensive spark early for the Sox with a solo homer in the second, but the Sox couldn't get much going after that. Game two of the three game set gets underway tonight at 7:11 p.m. (WCIU). more ›

A pitcher's duel broke out at Wrigley today as L.A.'s Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly pitched six scoreless innings each before both teams scored in the seventh. Ultimately, the Cubs got all the runs they needed that inning on their way to a 2-1 win over the Dodgers. In the top of the seventh, Matt Kemp got the Dodgers on the board with a solo home run, but on the first pitch of the bottom half of the inning, Koyie Hill evened things up with a solo shot of his own; later in the inning Fukudome would sac-fly in Jake Fox for the go-ahead (and winning) run. Lilly had a stellar outing, giving up only four hits and the single run while striking out five over seven complete innings; Marmol had a scoreless eighth and Kevin Gregg pitched a scoreless ninth for the save after a scare. It's the Cubs' third win in four games since snapping their season-long eight game losing streak. The two teams do it again tomorrow at 3:10, televised on FOX. more ›

Sammy Sosa's boom box. Dugout electrical fans. Now we can add "Dodgers plumbing" to the list of things that frustrated Cubs players have taken out their aggressions on. Who broke the water pipe that caused the dugout to flood? No one's fessing up - and Cubs GM Jim Hendry doesn't give a rat's ass. He told the Trib: more ›

It seems appropriate that the Cubs season ended on an Alfonso Soriano check-swing. It reflected the Cubs' performance in the postseason: half-assed. It showed again Saturday night as the Cubs failed to produce any offense and lost to the Dodgers, 3-1, and were eliminated from the 2008 playoffs. Just like in Game Two, the Cubs fell behind early and didn't produce a run until the later innings and, even then, it wasn't enough. more ›

"We might as well not have had gloves on." - Derek Lee [MLB] more ›

Wrigleyville is shell-shocked right now and us Cubs fan can only shake our heads and wonder what the hell has happened. After a sharp start to the night, the Cubs booted the game away (literally) in the second inning and never recovered as the Dodgers topped the Cubs again, 10-3. The Dodgers now have a two-games-to-none lead in the series and the Cubs are one game away from being swept from the playoffs in the first round for the second straight year. more ›

Well, that didn't take long. All the regular season optimism is gone as Wrigleyville descended into panic Wednesday night while the Dodgers thumped the Cubs 7-2 to take 1-0 in their NL Divisional Series. Ryan Dempster, who pitched so well at home all season long, flirted with danger all night, walking seven and loading the bases in the third only to get himself out. But if you flirt with danger long enough, it'll bite you in the ass and it bit Dempster in the form of a fifth inning grand slam off the bat of James Loney. Sean Marshall gave up a homer to Manny Ramirez in the seventh, the Dodgers added another run in the eighth, and Russell Martin homered off of Marquis in the ninth to cap things off. more ›

Sox Prep For Game 163 more ›

The Cubs dropped their last regular season game 3-1 on Sunday and helped the Milwaukee Brewers win the wild card In an effort to shake off any rust from their recent rests, most of the starters saw action today but only Ronny Cedeno produced a run. It was pitcher by committee as the Cubs trotted seven different pitchers to the mound, none throwing longer than two innings, and Bob Howry earning the loss. A two-run Ryan Braun homer in the eighth put the Brewers ahead for good. more ›

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.... more ›

Way to go, Cubs fans! Well, at least those of you at Wrigley Field on Monday. You really upset Carlos Zambrano, your $91 million man, by booing him off the mound in the fifth inning of an 11-3 loss to the Dodgers. He pointed to his head to let the fams know he could hear them. And his postgame press conference, Zambrano let fans know what he thought of their gesture: I don't accept that... more ›

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts... more ›

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. more ›

We don't know about you, but we just cannot get that excited for this weekend's Cubs-White Sox series that begins this afternoon at the Cell. The Sox have lost 20 of their last 28 games since the two last met, while the Cubs haven't played much better. The "lovable losers" haven't been so lovable of late, with their manager being suspended for bumbing an ump during an on-field tirade, the now exiles Michael Barrett getting... more ›

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA... more ›

When cabin fever sets in, we take good news any place we can get it. Still, we had to read this bit of news twice when we received it. A press release sent to Chicagoist and other outlets yesterday from the Brooklyn Brewery announced that they've reached an agreement with distributor River North, allowing the Williamsburg-based craft brewer to sell its flagship lager, Brooklyn Brown Ale, and Brooklyn East India Pale Ale in the Chicago... more ›

Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry annouced on Sunday that the team had agreed to new contracts with free agents Aramis Ramirez and Kerry Wood, answering two questions about the Cubs' 2007 roster. To be honest, Chicagoist was surprised that either one is coming back, let alone both of 'em. more ›