Jeff Samardzija pitches first career complete game shutout as Cubs win 7-0 over White Sox

Jeff Samardzija was brilliant as he pitched his first career complete game shutout and led the Cubs to a 7-0 win over their crosstown rival, the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on a cool Memorial Day evening.

Jeff Samardzija pitched his first career complete game shutout on Monday against the White Sox (Chicago Sun-Times photo)

The "Shark" allowed just two hits and struck out eight and walked two batters over nine innings pitched and 108 pitches thrown.  Samardzija is the first Cubs starter to pitch a shutout since former Cub Randy Wells did so on August 29. 2011 against the San Francisco Giants.

Samardzija said, "I love this place.  I loved coming to watch games here as a kid.  I loved watching these guys play here, so to come here, and have my whole family here, 30 minutes from home, from my backyard, it's fun.  I love being here, I love the atmosphere.  I love these games against the White Sox, they're always fun.  Unfortunately, they cut [the series] down to four -- this is what baseball is all about, these rivalry games.  It's just fun, this is what you play for."  He also added, "I love competing against that team, they're a great group of guys who play hard, and I admire them a lot -- it was just fun."

Cubs manager Dale Sveum said, "That kind of stuff, 97 [mph] from the first pitch to the last pitch, whatever he threw, you're not going to see that too often in the big leagues."

Julio Borbon hit his first homer and Anthony Rizzo had a double and a triple and drove in two runs.  Rizzo said, "Just to put runs on the board and keep adding on, and two-out hits, it's nice for the entire team, the pitching staff, our coaches -- it was a nice, easy win."

In other Cubs news, the team placed right handed reliever Kyuji Fujikawa on the 15-day disabled list  with a right forearm strain.  The Cubs also claimed right-handed pitcher Alex Burnett off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles, who takes Fujikawa's spot on the roster.

The Cubs and Sox will play the second game of the four game Crosstown Classic series tomorrow night at 7:10pm CT on the South Side.  Edwin Jackson will start for the Cubs and try to earn his second win of the season.

Cubs win 8-2 over the Mets as Scott Feldman pitches his way to fourth consecutive win

The Cubs beat the Mets 8-2 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.  Scott Feldman delivered another quality outing for the Cubs as he pitched 6-2/3 scoreless innings.  Feldman allowed seven hits and struck out six batters and walked one.  He has a 1.27 ERA in his last five starts and is 4-0.  I was at the game and am happy to share some of my personal photos in this blog post.

Scott Feldman earned the win against the Mets on Saturday

Both Anthony Rizzo and Nate Schierholtz homered in the game, with Rizzo's coming in the fifth inning and Schierholtz's in the eighth.  "I am just seeing pitches to hit and not trying to do too much.  Keeping it as simple as possible.  Not over-thinking, no matter who's pitching." Rizzo said.  Well, keep it up, #44!

Cubs players and coaches celebrate their "W" on Saturday

Darwin Barney and Anthony Rizzo visit while James Russell warms up

In other Cubs news, Matt Garza has rejoined the team and is scheduled to make his first start since last season on Tuesday against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.  Carlos Villanueva is the likely candidate for moving to the bullpen once Garza is added to the roster.

Matt Garza and teammates during the national anthem before Saturday's game

Tomorrow, the Cubs and Mets will play the rubber game of the series at 1:20pm CT.  Travis Wood will make the start for the Cubs and try to earn his fifth win of the season. 

Cubs beat the Cardinals 2-1 and win 2nd straight game

The Cubs won 2-1 over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field in the first of the two-game series.  Anytime the Northsiders can beat the Redbirds, it's a beautiful thing.  It was really satisfying to watch Cardinals fans listening to Cubs fans fill the Friendly Confines with the sweet words of "Go Cubs Go!"

Starlin Castro makes the throw to first as Yadier Molina slides into second (Chicago Tribune photo)

Travis Wood made the start for the Cubs and was excellent as he allowed one run on five hits while walking one and striking out eight batters over 6.2 innings pitched.  Wood earned his second win of the season and threw 114 pitches.

Wood is the first left-handed Cubs pitcher to start a season with seven consecutive quality starts since Johnny Schmitz in 1948.  Kevin Gregg dominated in the ninth inning and earned his fifth save of the season (in five opportunities).  Carlos Marmol tried his best to give up the Cubs' lead in the eighth, but was thankfully able to get out of the jam unscathed.

Rightfielder Nate Schierholtz hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, which gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead and was enough to win the game.  Schierholtz was even interviewed after the game on the field and didn't even get a shaving cream pie in the face.  Bummer!

Tomorrow the rivals will play each other at 1:20pm CT and Carlos Villanueva will start for the Cubs and try to earn his second win this year.  Can the Cubbies extend their winning streak to three games? I sure hope so!

Cubs win 5-3 over the Padres as Kevin Gregg earns 4th save and Darwin Barney and Cody Ransom each with two RBIs

The Cubs opened their 10-game homestand with a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres on a 70-degree spring night at Wrigley Field.  Jeff Samardzija was the starting pitcher and allowed three runs on four hits while walking four and striking out eight batters over five innings pitched. 

The Shark didn't have his best outing of the season as he walked Everth Cabrera to lead off the game and then allowed a single to Chase Headley.  Samardzija then threw two wild pitches and the runners advanced and Cabrera ended up scoring on that second wild pitch.

Michael Bowden earned the win and Kevin Gregg got James Russell out of an 8th inning jam and closed out the game to earn his fourth save of the season.  It sure is nice to see the Cubs have an effective bullpen that's actually doing the job they're there for. 

Scott Hairston and former Padre Cody Ransom hit back-to-back homers in the second inning and Ransom also had two RBIs, which included a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning.

Scott Hairston and Cody Ransom hit back-to-back homers in the second inning against the Padres (Chicago Tribune photo)

Second baseman Darwin Barney had two RBI doubles tonight as well, drew a walk and was 2-for-3.  It sure is good to have him back and see his bat come alive!

Darwin Barney had two RBIs against the Padres (Chicago Tribune photo)

Tomorrow the Cubs and Padres will play the second game of the four-game series at 7:05pm CT.  Edwin Jackson will start for the Cubs and try to earn his first win of the season.  Go Cubs Go!

Cubs earn third consecutive win as they beat the Marlins 3-2

The Cubs earned their third consecutive win (woohoo!) as they beat the Miami Marlins 3-2 on Saturday night at Marlins Park.  Travis Wood made a strong start for the Cubs and allowed two runs on three hits and walked one batter and struck out five over six innings pitched.

Travis Wood earned the win against the Marlins on Saturday night (photo from Chicago Tribune)

The game went back and forth as the Cubs started with a 1-0 lead and then Giancarlo Stanton's home run in the first inning tied the game.  The Cubs then got a 2-1 lead when Luis Valbuena hit an RBI single in the second inning.  However, Miguel Olivo proceeded to homer off Wood to tie the game once again.

The two teams were tied until David DeJesus's RBI single broke the tie and gave the Cubs the lead for good in the seventh inning.

Worth mentioning:  Nate Schierholtz had an amazing diving catch in the game and Starlin Castro made a diving, inning-ending play to Darwin Barney to shut the door and get the Cubs out of an 8th inning jam.  Kevin Gregg earned his third save since coming back to the Cubs.  Honestly, who knew that Gregg would make such a difference!

In other Cubs news, third baseman Ian Stewart was supposed to play with Triple-A Iowa Friday night as part of his rehab, but he was hit in the elbow earlier in the week and was too sore to throw on Friday, so we'll see how things go.

Starting pitcher Matt Garza tweeted the other day, “5/1 is my day."  This is in reference to his first minor-league rehab start, which will be with Double-A Tennessee next week.  Hopefully Garza will remain on track for his return to the Cubs.  It seems like it's been forever since he's pitched a game.

Carlos Villanueva will make the start as the Cubs and Marlins play the fourth and final game in the series at 1:10pm CT Sunday.  Villanueva will try to earn his second win of the season.  Can the Cubs make it 4 W's in a row?  What do you think?

Cubs win 6-2 over Rangers as offense comes alive at wet Wrigley Field

The Cubs were able to play all nine innings at Wrigley Field this afternoon and earn a 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers.  The two teams ended up splitting the two-game series (since Wednesday's night's game had to be postponed due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in Chicago).  A makeup date has yet to be announced.  Personally, I was glad they decided to postpone the game, since I had tickets and wasn't particularly looking forward to trudging to the Friendly Confines in the wet and windy weather.

The Cubs' bats came alive with 13 hits in the team's best performance of the season.  Carlos Villanueva earned the win for his solid outing today.  He allowed two runs on four hits and walked one and struck out six batters.  Villanueva's ERA is 1.29 this season.

Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano had back-to-back home runs in the third inning.  Rizzo's homer went 475 feet, which is the longest homer in the majors this season. 

Welington Castillo was hot today as he went 4-for-4 with a double and a run.  Luis Valbuena had two RBIs in the game.

Welington Castillo and Carlos Marmol celebrate the Cubs' win over the Rangers on Thursday (photo from Chicago Tribune)

To top it all off, Carlos Marmol pitched in the ninth and was able to get three quick outs without any drama.  Way to go, Marmol!  It was really satisfying to have the Cubs' bullpen be effective (which hasn't happened that often this season).  Also worth mentioning is James Russell's excellent relief pitching this season as he made his eighth scoreless appearance in the eighth inning of today's game.

Tomorrow the Cubs will travel to Milwaukee to start a three-game series against the Brewers.  Jeff Samardzija will start for the Cubs and try to earn his second win of the season.  Tomorrow's game time is 7:10pm CT.

Cubs fight until the end, but lose 4-2 to Rangers; 7 players affected in roster moves

The Cubs played hard and fought until the end, but lost 4-2 to the Texas Rangers as Darwin Barney's would-have been game-tying double was caught by the Rangers' Craig Gentry on an amazing play.  Wishful thinking, especially for Barney's season debut after coming off the disabled list.

Travis Wood had a quality start for the Cubs and allowed two runs on five hits while walking three and striking out three batters over 7.1 innings pitched.  Wood was tagged with his first loss of the season, even though he has made three quality starts and has allowed only four earned runs over 19-2/3 innings with an 1.83 ERA.

Wood exited the game in the top of the 8th as Cubs manager Dale Sveum called in Shawn Camp from the bullpen.  Bad move, Sveum!  Camp proceeded to throw away a pickoff attempt and which allowed the Rangers to score and lead 2-0.  Camp then gave up a two-run homer to Adrian Beltre.  The Cubs were now losing 4-0.

Travis Wood had a quality start against the Rangers, but ended up with the loss (photo by Chicago Sun-Times)

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Nate Schierholtz had a two-run pinch-hit double which brought the Cubs within two of the Rangers.  The Cubs had the bases loaded after Welington Castillo was hit by a pitch in his ankle.  Darwin Barney then hit a sinking liner to center, which would normally have been a game-tying double, but instead, Craig Gentry made a diving catch to end the game.  

In other Cubs news, the team made several roster moves today, which are listed below:

--Activated 2B Darwin Barney from the disabled list
--Claimed infielder Cody Ransom off waivers from Padres
--Designated Brent Lillibridge for assignment
--Added RHP Kameron Loe to active roster
--Selected contract of RHP Kevin Gregg
--Designated Hisanori Takahashi for assignment
--Optioned Rafael Dolis to Triple-A Iowa

Hopefullly these roster moves will make a difference and the Cubs will start winning some games (or at least stop giving them away).  Besides James Russell, the Cubs bullpen hasn't been reliable at all.  Let's see how Loe and Gregg affect the team.  Stay tuned....

Also, if you haven't already heard, the city of Chicago and the Cubs have come to an agreement for the Wrigley Field renovation plan.  More details about the renovation plans can be found at this link.

Tomorrow the Cubs and Rangers will play the second game of the three-game series at 7:05pm CT.  Carlos Villanueva will make the start for the Cubs and try for his first win of the season.