Ryan Dempster ends his season as he started it - wild. Starlin Castro becomes the youngest player to lead the National League in hits. more ›

Batting 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position is a surefire way to send the Wrigley faithful home without singing that Godforsaken Steve Goodman song. more ›

The Cubs were scorched at Wrigley Field on a day where it was so hot the gulls didn't fly into the bleachers for scraps. more ›

After a terrible road trip, the Cubs benefited from some home cooking last night thanks to a nifty slide by Darwin Barney. more ›

Ryan Dempster is the closest pitcher the Cubs have to a must-win in their rotation. Dempster delivered today. more ›

The Cubs had to wait out a rain delay to get this one in, but Ryan Dempster and Aramis Ramirez made it worth their while once the tarp was lifted. more ›

Cubs 11, Giants 4 more ›

Reds 2, Cubs 0 more ›

MLB.com's Scott Merkin called the White Sox' completed road trip "thoroughly forgettable." We disagree. It was memorable for just how feeble the hitters looked for the 11 games. Case in point, during the first inning of the Sox' 12-3 loss to the Yankees in the Bronx they had runners at second and third with no one out and couldn't score. That type of futility -- the team was 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base -- gives the pitchers a very small margin of error. Edwin Jackson blew up in the decisive fifth inning, struggling with his control and unable to get batters out. more ›

Starlin Castro had four hits, matching a career high, and was part of an eighth inning rally as the Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-8 at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were trailing 8-5 in the eighth when they started their comeback, sparked two-run doubles by Castro and Jeff Baker. Jeff Samardzija earned the victory in relief of the still-struggling Ryan Dempster, and Carlos Marmol picked up the save. For you Arcade Fire fans, Will Butler sang during the seventh inning stretch while Win Butler and Régine Chassagne were shopping in Bucktown, according to Tankboy. more ›

Thanks to the Cubs' lineup scratching back after being put in a 4-1 first inning hole, Ryan Dempster officially earned a no-decision in yesterday's 9-5 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field. But Dempster knew after the game he didn't help matters with a 29-pitch first inning highlighted by Sean Smith's home run. more ›

With a little bit of help from bad fielding, Matt Thornton is now 0-for-3 in save situations for the White Sox. In Houston, Carlos Marmol continued to be an alpha closer. more ›

The Cubs couldn't get a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks today, losing 6-4 at Wrigley Field. Ryan Dempster earned his second loss of the season, giving up five runs (four earned) and 10 hits over seven innings, including an RBI triple and double to Chris Young. The Cubs' defense was shaky, as well, with Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto and Blake DeWitt each committing errors. Soriano hit a solo home run and Aramis Ramirez added a 2-run shot to pace the Cubs offense. The Cubs now have a day off tomorrow, then travel to Milwaukee for a series against the Brewers at Miller Park. The Cubs also received more bad news today. Pitchers Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner are both going to the disabled list. Wells has what's listed as a forearm strain, while Cashner has a strained right rotator cuff (that's not good). more ›

Winter is still in the air but baseball is creeping up on us as trade winds continue to blow throughout the city. more ›

• The Chicago Public Schools are holding hearings this week on a potential new set of schools, including a pair of live-in schools.
• The number of state worker layoffs coming from Gov. Quinn's budget cuts? 2,600.
• Weird Science story of the day: using Facebook to crack Social Security Numbers.

The Chicago Cubs and Ryan Dempster are close to agreeing on a new contract for the free agent right-hander that would keep him in Cub blue. The contract is rumored to be a four-year deal that would pay Dempster around to $52 million to stay in Chicago. After an uneven three-year stint as the Cubs' closer, Dempster was moved back to the rotation this year where he experienced a renaissance, going 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA and was almost unhittable at Wrigley (14-3, 2.86 ERA). No word on how this may affect the Cubs' pursuit of either Jake Peavy (yes, please) or Randy Johnson (no, thanks). more ›

Lou Piniella has set the rotation for the Cubs playoff series which starts Wednesday. Ryan Dempster gets the call in game one on Wednesday followed by Carlos Zambrano in game two. Rich Harden will start game three and Ted Lilly will start game four (if necessary). Jason Marquis will work out of the bullpen. Said Lou, "I said before I announced any pitcher that I had confidence in all four of my starters, so all games are equally important, and we chose to go this way. Everybody's got to do their job now." more ›

Some Chicago Cubs (Mark DeRosa, Geovany Soto, Ryan Dempster, Mike Fontenot, and Ryan Theriot, to be exact) have a little fun on camera in a video to promote Players Trust, the MLBPA's charitable foundation. Sure, it's more goofy than straight-up funny, but the short convinces us that Ryan Dempster has some quality acting chops. more ›

Cubs Hook Fish With Big Seventh more ›

When it's this cold and icy, the last thing we can imagine doing is sitting outside at a ball game. But spring will one day arrive, and we're sure some of you will want to spend time enjoying the nicer weather at Wrigley Field. more ›

Sure, it's still damn cold out. And the snow keeps coming. And coming. But spring is just around the corner. How do we know? Because Spring Training is finally upon us. more ›

Answer quickly... who was the last Cubs pitcher to win 20 games? more ›

Two Cubs pitchers, linked by their unfulfilled promise due to injuries, may finally become uncoupled. While Kerry Wood will have an opportunity to resurrect his career with the Cubs, Mark Prior's time in Cubby blue may be finished. Wood inked a one-year deal worth $4.2 million, while becoming the front runner to become the Cubs closer -- Ryan Dempster, after three years in that role, will return to the starting rotation in 2008. Wood pitched... more ›

As the Cubs prepare for the win-or-go-home scenario facing them in Game 3 of their divisional playoff series with the Diamondbacks this evening, we wanted to share the photo above with you all (via Deadspin). more ›

So just what, exactly, is Ryan Dempster's role on the Cubs' pitching staff? Not even Ryan himself seems to know. more ›

It sure doesn't surprise Chicagoist that someone who's known more for his infatuation with the Cubs than anything would suffer from heart issues. The years of utter disappointment punctuated with heartbreaking collapse -- 1969, 1984, 2003 -- have to take their toll physically. more ›

Baseball's trading deadline is less than a week away, and neither Chicago team has made a big move yet. However, daily rumors surround the Sox and a number of high profile pitchers that are on the block. The two biggest names mentioned, in terms of starting pitchers, are A.J. Burnett and Jason Schmidt. While a deal sending Burnett to Baltimore looked like a done deal a few days ago, that deal has fallen apart and... more ›

Just as the Cubs are starting to rebound from their poor start, they lose Mark Prior again -- this time for two months with a hairline fracture in the elbow after being hit by a Brad Hawpe line drive. The ball was traveling at 117 mph when it hit! Where do the Cubs go from here? They've moved over .500 for the first time since very early in the season, but their pitching staff... more ›

Cubs fans are understandably nervous following the unsettling news from Mesa. Arm troubles have lead the club to shut down both Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. more ›