Kuzul

Last season, the Cubs struggled all year in one-run ball games.

Today, the Cubs’ fortune seemed to be on their side as they sneaked past the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-5.

Tyler Colvin’s two-run home run and three RBI helped the Cubs get their third win on the season.

The Cubs struck first in the second inning when Darwin Barney scored on a Miguel Montero throwing error and Starlin Castro followed with an RBI double to score Koyie Hill.

Andrew Cashner, who was making his pitching debut as a starter, gave up a solo home run to Ryan Roberts for his only blemish in the game.

In the bottom of the third, the Cubs separated themselves from the Diamondbacks briefly with a two-run shot by Tyler Colvin. Colvin was starting for Carlos Pena at first, who is nursing a sore thumb injury.

Andrew Cashner was pitching brilliantly through 5.1, giving up just one run on two hits, but he was quickly pulled in the sixth when he was feeling discomfort in his right shoulder.

Reports are Cashner has shoulder stiffness, and there has not been any immediate word on whether or not he will make his next start.

It was unfortunate because Cashner had Arizona’s hitters off balance all day, but the Diamondbacks broke open against the bullpen that has been near perfect in the early stages of this season.

Jeff Samardzija relieved Cashner in the sixth, and he quietly retired the next two batters he faced.

Samardzija started the seventh inning by walking Miguel Montero.

Montero was out at second as Chris Young grounded into a fielder’s choice.

Samardzija walked Juan Miranda to place runners on first and second.

Marcos Mateo, who had an impressive spring training, gave up a single to Gerardo Parra to score Chris Young—that moved runners up to second and third.

James Russel relieved Mateo, who coughed up the lead as Willie Bloomquist singled to score Juan Miranda and Ryan Roberts.

The tie game would not last long, as the Cubs scored two in the bottom of the seventh on a Marlon Byrd double and a bases-loaded walk to Tyler Colvin put them up, 6-4.

The Diamondbacks made it interesting in the top of the ninth inning, as they closed the gap to 6-5 on a Xavier Nady ground-out to Starlin Castro, who made a magnificent play on a ball that deflected off of Sean Marshall.

Sean Marshall stopped the bleeding by striking out Willie Bloomquist to secure another Cubs victory, their third in a row. 

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Last week I wrote about my hope for the 2011 Cubs. For the first time in a long time, I look at the Cubs organization and see reasons to be optimistic about their short and long-term future.

Almost immediately after posting that story to Facebook, I got a message from one of my college buddies—and fellow long-suffering Cubs fan—that was, uh, not so optimistic. He stopped short of calling me a total idiot, but did suggest rather strongly that I needed to immediately go outside, turn around three times and spit.

It’s not that he thought I was an idiot for being hopeful, just for saying it publicly.

This is how most Cubs fans are wired. They are like that girl in high school who had her heart broken one too many times and overreacts at even the smallest male indiscretion. Everyone understands, but no one wants to be the next person to cross her.

Logic says I should be more guarded like my college buddy, but for me, hope springs eternal.

They won’t be on anyone’s list of favorites this season, but I think the Cubs can win the NL Central.

Here are five things that will help get the Cubs back on top.

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In case you have failed to notice, Alfonso Soriano spits more than any other human on the planet. Honestly, he’s like a stable llama on Mucinex–it’s disgusting. Watch for it, you’ll undoubtedly lose your appetite.

But for the first time in a long time, Alfonso Soriano is starting to spit his game in between the chalk lines at Wrigley rather than littering the dugout floor with his own saliva.

Through the first four games of the young season, our $136 million man has actually been relatively productive, particularly Monday afternoon in the matinee tilt against Arizona. Soriano had not one, but two timely hits in the span of a single game, which eclipses his total set for the entire month of April in 2010.

He has become, if nothing else, the most feared 7 hitter in the National League.

If you think that I’m sitting in Alf’s corner breezing him with one of those oriental hand fans, that’s simply not the case. I’ll admit, ‘the hop’ is stupid. He’s a horrible fielder, he’s prone to the strikeout, and he still speaks that incomprehensible Spanglish jibberish after 13 years in the MLB.

But, if we’ve learned anything about #12 during his career with the Cubs, it’s that the more he is relied upon, the more he lets you down. High expectations weigh him down like he’s doggy-paddling holding 50 lb. dumbbells.

Take, for example, 2006, Soriano’s last year with the Nationals. With their only aspiration for that season being to not be as poor of a franchise as the Washington Wizards, Soriano flourished. He hit .277, cranked 46 out of that supposed “pitcher’s ballpark” in D.C. and snagged 46 bases, all while mindlessly voicing his personal preference to play the infield.

Since that successful season in the nation’s capital, Soriano’s totals have dropped considerably every year and he hasn’t once stolen 20 bases as a member of the Cubs. He’s swiftly plummeted from prohibitive All-Star to yearly “fall guy”.

Do I think that paying your 7th hitter that you often replace late in games for defensive purposes $17 million is a good idea? Not necessarily, but I think that Soriano can certainly benefit from it.

Cub fans have become so disgruntled with bad contracts and underachieving free-agents on a yearly basis that voicing their displeasure with Soriano at this point has become a waste of breath.

On Monday, his two clutch hits, including his 2nd home run, propelled the Cubs back to the .500 mark. If he can continue to outproduce Skip Schumaker, the Cardinals’ 7th hitter and consummate league dork, the pressure should remain off Soriano’s slump-susceptible shoulders.

If not, this was all just me spitting into the wind.

Now I’m done. Rack me.

Frost

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Randy Wells continued his spring success in his first start of the season, as he kept the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ hitting at bay while engineering through six innings, giving up just one run on six hits.

After a disappointing weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Chicago Cubs could not afford to start the week on a sour note.

The Diamondbacks struck first in the first inning on a Willie Bloomquist home run.

However, this would be the only run the Diamondbacks would score, as the Cubs fought their way back for a 4-1 victory.

For the fourth day in a row, in what may be a regular occurrence this season, the Cubs were trailing early.

Alfonso Soriano connected for his second home run in two days to tie the ball game up at 1-1.

And then the Cubs did something that haunted them all last season: They got the big hit with runners in scoring position.

Marlon Byrd scored on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Pena in the fourth inning and the Cubs slammed the door shut in the eighth with RBI by Soriano and Geovany Soto to put the Cubs up for good, 4-1.

The Cubs just ended a frustrating weekend with the Pirates, and this win could not have come at a better time.

Promising signs are Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez off to hot starts.  Both players have usually struggled in the month of April.

The bullpen continues to be impressive in the first four games of the season, as there lone blemish was a Carlos Marmol blown save on Sunday.

The Cubs look to take Game 2 against the Diamondbacks tomorrow in a 1:20 p.m. central time, a game where Andrew Cashner will make his major league debut as a starter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In recent memory, we’ve always heard about how the AL East is Major League Baseball’s toughest division, with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays beating up on each other, along with the rest of the American League.

Some people make a case for the NL East, where the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves have a stronghold, combined with an over-acheiving Florida Marlins squad and an even more under-acheiving New York Mets team.

It’s easy to say one division is better than the other based on records alone, so I had an idea: What if we take the best player at each position, from each division and create separate “All-Star” teams?  Which division would have the most talented squad?

That’s exactly what we are going to do in hopes we can finally come to a realization of which division is MLB’s best.  You might be surprised at how good (or bad) some of the teams end up being.

The selection process is simple: It will be the best player at each position today. It won’t be based on future potential, and it won’t be based on a player having a monster season five years ago. 

This will be a seven part series over the next two weeks: one part for each of baseball’s six divisions, followed by a summary piece that will hopefully allow us to figure out and debate which division really is MLB’s best.

We begin with the AL Central.

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Opening Day for the Chicago White Sox is finally here.

With the entire season before us, it’s easy to be optimistic about the White Sox’s chances in the American League Central in 2011.  Money has been spent (and then some) and everyone is itching to get onto the field and start winning ballgames, starting Friday in Cleveland.

If the snow is removed from Jacobs Field, that is.

Much like the Indians ground crew, the ChiSox have their work cut out for them if they are to contend in a division with a hard-hitting lineup in Detroit along with the ever-competetive Twins.

If the White Sox can follow these 10 commandments, they should be in the thick of the division title hunt in six months.

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At first glance the N.L. Central would seem to be a two-team race between the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers. Some people add the St. Louis Cardinals to the mix because, well, they’re the St. Louis Cardinals. But most analysts seem to agree that it’s between the Reds with their combination of speed, power and pitching, and the Brewers, who have one of the top offenses in baseball.

But hold on!

If you take a closer look you’ll see that each team in the division has significant weaknesses as well as some hidden strengths, making this a five-team race (sorry, Houston) that could come down to the wire and be one of the most exciting in baseball for the 2011 season.

So now, a look at each team and why they can win and why they won’t…

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Over the past, decade many moments have been shared by White Sox fans on the South Side.

A World Series has been won, playoffs have been made, and records have been broken.

Baseball legends have graced the turf of U.S. Cellular Field.

Defensive giants Omar Vizquel and Andruw Jones, home run sluggers Manny Ramirez and Frank Thomas, and all-time greats Jim Thome and Ken Griffey Jr. have all donned the White Sox jersey.

The question with all of this is, “What are the top ten events from U.S. Cellular Field to occur in the past decade?”

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Going into the 2011 season, the White Sox have been recognized as strong contenders for the postseason. Most analysts see them in contention for the AL Central title. While they will face tough opponents in the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, the biggest questions to success remain within the organization.

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It’s time we all take a breather from worrying about the sports themselves and focus on the players involved. This article is written with the intent of recognizing that there are bigger things that we should be focusing on at this time in the world rather than sports. On 3/11/2011 an unprecedented 8.9 earthquake rocked the country of Japan. It brought devastation, injuries, life loss and widespread panic but that was only the beginning.

After the earthquake hit, a gigantic 23 foot tsunami tore throw the coastal areas of Northeastern Japan. The waves pushed inland as much as six miles in certain spots devouring everything and anything in their way. We are reminded how strong the forces of nature that are out of our control truly are. If you are reading this article now, then please take a moment of silence to meditate on this tragic event and to pray to God for the safety of Japan and it’s people.

We hope the worst is now in the past but danger still looms as nuclear meltdown is the newest concern in Japan thanks to damage at three nuclear power plants inflicted by the mega-quake and powerful tsunami. You may be asking yourself, “How could this terrible, horrific event possibly tie into sports?”

In this gigantic melting pot known as the United States of America, the land of the free and home of the brave, we have taken in many Japanese athletes as our own and have grown to respect them in the process. We have looked up to them, we have cheered their names and now it’s time we reach out and send our condolences to them, their families and their friends. Our hopes and prayers are with you and we are thankful to have you all here competing in our nation. May God Bless America, God Bless Japan and God bless the whole world.

Here is a brief slideshow that points out all active major leaguers that come from Japan. Be sure to pray for all of Japan and it’s people but say a special prayer for these major leaguers and their families as they take time away from baseball to focus on this tragedy.

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