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Cub Nation
This is The Place On Eons This Fall
For All Us Cub Fans To Cheer Our Team,
And Enjoy OUR YEAR OF DESTINY!!!
Go Cubs Go!!!
"GOTTA LOVE THAT LATE RALLY!"
"CUBS rally in the 12th with another nail biter!" Here I am in the hospital and watching the CUBS......they all thought I was NUTS! lol But those CUBBIES and WOODS did it again against the Brewers! Yipppieeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Marquis Hits Grandslam In Win Over Mets
NEW YORK -- New York native Jason Marquis was happy to do well at home on Monday night. For the Cubs, the win over the Mets means that they will be at home next week when the National League Division Series begins.
Marquis drove in a career-high five RBIs, including four on his first grand slam, and Derrek Lee joined the Cubs' 20-homer club in a 9-5 victory over the Mets.
Game 1 of the NL Division Series will be on Oct. 1 at Wrigley Field. Whom they'll play is still to be determined. They could face the Mets, who now lead the Wild Card by one game over the Brewers, who were idle on Monday.
Marquis (11-9) connected in the fourth inning for the sixth slam by a Cubs pitcher and first since Kevin Tapani hit one on July 20, 1998, off Atlanta's Denny Neagle. Marquis also picked up an RBI when he hit into a fielder's choice in the fifth. He's the first Cubs pitcher with five RBIs since Milt Pappas drove in that many on Aug. 11, 1972, also against the Mets.
"He can hit," Mark DeRosa said. "He's got a Silver Slugger. He's a guy who offensively was always putting together great at-bats. We were busting him, because his numbers had been dwindling. He showed it tonight."
"Obviously, I'm just trying to help myself any way possible," Marquis said. "Guys did a good job of getting on base. I just looked for a ball I could hit hard.
"Any time you have a chance to help yourself, why not? I was just looking for a ball I could drive."
This was a special start for Marquis, who grew up on Staten Island and had about 30 family and friends present.
"I can remember, probably, high school, Little League was probably the last [grand slam] I hit," he said. "This was special to do in front of family and friends, and possibly the last time I'll pitch at Shea Stadium."
Marquis actually grew up a Yankees fan, but he went to about three or four Mets games as a kid. He played the New York city championship game at Shea in 1995.
The New York ballparks are so special to him, he was considering going to the last game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, but the Cubs' charter flight arrived too late. He has good memories of Shea, including pitching in the first game after Sept. 11, 2001.
"That was pretty impressive," manager Lou Piniella said of Marquis' slam. "Plus, he pitched a good ballgame and gave up four runs in about seven innings. The hitting -- they got him out the first time with the same pitch, and the second time up, he really got hold of that ball, a breaking ball that was hanging."
Marquis, who may be the odd man out in the Cubs' four-man postseason rotation, picked up the win, giving up four runs on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings. He was pulled after serving up David Wright's two-run homer in the seventh.
"Every time I take the mound, I feel I'm going to win," Marquis said. "It's always nice to be part of a winning team and feel like you're doing your part to help win."
The Cubs were trailing, 2-1, when Geovany Soto doubled to lead off the fourth. DeRosa singled and Soto scored on Reed Johnson's single, his second RBI hit of the night. Ryan Theriot singled to load the bases, and Marquis cleared them with his second homer of the season and fifth of his career to chase starter Jonathon Niese (1-1).
Two outs later, Lee connected on his 20th home run, off Nelson Figueroa. The Cubs now have five players with at least 20 for the third time in franchise history, in Lee, DeRosa, Soto, Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez. It's the first time since 2004, when the quintet included Lee, Ramirez, Moises Alou, Sammy Sosa and Corey Patterson. The Cubs also had five players hit at least 20 home runs in 1958, when Lee Walls, Ernie Banks, Walt Moryn, Bobby Thomson and Dale Long did so.
"He responds well when he's rested," Piniella said of Lee, who had Sunday off. "We'll start really resting the team and give everybody an opportunity to play."
A lot of other things went right for the Cubs. Theriot reached base five times. Soto can catch his breath, as Henry Blanco will likely start on Tuesday. And Piniella was able to give such players as Felix Pie and Koyie Hill some at-bats while giving others a little bit of a break.
Getting that home-field edge was huge, as the Cubs finished with a 55-26 record at Wrigley Field.
"It's a step. It's an important step," Piniella said. "You look at all the teams vying for postseason, and the teams that are in have all played well at home. This year, especially, it's important."
"We wanted to make sure we took care of that," DeRosa said. "We're looking at ourselves and saying we put ourselves in this position to give guys rest if they need rest, give guys work if they need work and not worry. There's not so much concern with who we're matched up with -- at least from the players' standpoint. It's nice to win the first ballgame and make sure we have home field throughout."
Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com.
Cubs Clench Division Championship Again
CHICAGO -- The Cubs are back-to-back division champions for the first time in 100 years.
Chicago clinched the National League Central by beating St. Louis, 5-4. The club has consecutive division titles for the first time since 1907-08, when the Cubs last won the World Series with one division per league. They're the first NL club to secure a playoff spot.
"Just finishing is the most important thing," center fielder Jim Edmonds said. "You never know what can happen in the last week of the season, and you don't want to be anywhere near the pennant race, because it could be pretty crazy."
If the standings hold, they will host the Wild Card-leading Philadelphia Phillies on Oct. 1-2 in the first two games of a best-of-five National League Division Series. Games 3 and 4 (if necessary) would be in Philadelphia on Oct. 4-5. If the series goes to a decisive fifth game, it would be Oct. 7 at Wrigley Field. Philadelphia is only a half-game behind the Mets in the East, so the first-round opponent could easily change.
Teams from the same division cannot face each other in the Division Series. If Milwaukee, Houston or St. Louis wins the Wild Card, the Cubs, if they don't blow their seven-game lead atop the NL standings, will play the NL division champion with the worst record. The West-leading Dodgers are Chicago's likely opponent in that scenario, since they are 6 1/2 games behind the East-leading Mets.
The Cubs could help determine their first-round opponent since they play series at contenders New York and Milwaukee next week, plus an "if necessary" game at Houston on Sept. 29. That game, rescheduled because of Hurricane Ike, will only be played if it could affect the Astros' Wild Card chances.
"You've got to have fortune, you've got to have a little luck, you've got to stay a little healthy, you've got to have things go your way," manager Lou Piniella said. "We've got the talent here. We're a talented bunch. But, you know what? There are a lot of talented bunches that go into the postseason."
As of Saturday afternoon, the Cubs had five possible first-round opponents: Philadelphia, New York, Florida, Los Angeles and Arizona. The Cubs own a combined 18-11 record versus those teams this year. They're 5-2 against Los Angeles, 4-2 against Arizona, 4-3 against Florida and 3-4 against Philadelphia. They're 2-0 versus New York going into next week's series at Shea Stadium.
Piniella hasn't set his playoff pitching rotation yet, but his top four starters this season have clearly been Carlos Zambrano (14-6), Ryan Dempster (16-6), Rich Harden (5-1 since being traded from Oakland) and Ted Lilly (15-9). The current rotation setup has Zambrano, Lilly and Dempster due up for the first three playoff games, but that could change.
A quandary for any team that clinches early is whether to rest everyday players to get them re-energized for the playoffs or to avoid rust and keep everything as is. It's a debate that the Cubs must deal with over the final week.
"It really just depends if you're hot or cold," Edmonds said. "Every team that's hot wants to keep playing, and every team that's cold wants to rest."
Cubs On A Losing Streak, But.....
That "Magic Number" just keeps getting smaller anyway!!!
Hope the Cubbies get back on track quickly though!!
They're making alot of us nervous!!
Zambrano has rotator cuff tendinitis
Cubs hopeful ace will return to rotation next week vs. Houston or St Louis
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How are y'all feeling now??
I'm curious--are y'all nervous?? I mean, we've been to the playoffs a few times recently only to either lose the first series like last year, or have a fan interfere with a play (Bartman) and the Cubs went on to lose the game and the National League Championship. Do you think we finally have the formula? I honestly think we have the team, the mojo, and they are playing with the confidence it takes to win it ALL. They never seem to give up-- no matter how far behind they get!! Look at all the wins they have after being runs down late in the game!! Hope I'm right!! Tell us what YOU think!
Cubs Extend Win Streak To 7
Soriano's HR in the 7th gives Cubs 39th come-from-behind win of the season and 7th win in a row!!
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HOW BOUT THEM CUBBIES ???
Slugger's go-ahead blast sends Chicago to sixth straight win
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Probable September Call-ups
Micah Hoffpauir
Jeremy Papelbon.
Angel Guzman
With the month of September at the door, it's time to get a look at some of our better prospects. Since the Cubs are in a pennant race this year, they may not see alot of playing time, unless the Cubs clench early. More in reply
