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Update: We decided to try the losing thing all over again. A brutal, brutal, brutal 9th inning made possible by Kerry Wood's lack of control, Ronny Cedeno's inability to field a ground ball, and the offense's inability to take advantage of the myriad opportunities it had to crush a horrible team.

Good news—the Brewers lost and nearly got themselves perfect-gamed by Chris Young of the Padres, thus ending a 2-5 homestand which included a four-game split with San Diego. What's more galling: splitting four with the Padres at home or losing two of three to the Reds in Cincinnati? (There appeared to be so many Cub fans at the Great American Ballpark this weekend, I think these games should go against our home record.)

Jason Marquis gave up just two ER over 7 1/3 Saturday night, and Cub hitters beat the Cub bullpen, 14-7.

Micah Hoffpauir started in right field, and Dave van Dyck writes that former Rookie of the Year candidate Kosuke Fukudome may want to get used to the view from the dugout.

If adversity really does build character, the Cubs are on their way to having a locker room full of Albert Schweitzers and Abraham Lincolns. Since August turned into September, the Cubbies, losers of six in a row for the first time since last June, are hitting .228 and the pitchers have a cumulative 6.32 ERA. Read the rest of this entry>>>

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That well-known rabble-rouser, Mark Sheldon of mlb.com, is billing this series as a showdown between NL Rookie of the Year candidates Geovany Soto and Joey Votto.

Actually, I don't know anything about Mark Sheldon's rabble-rousing, but the comparison is not entirely off-base: Read the rest of this entry>>>

I posted something regarding the Cubs post-season roster options here at TCR last month, but here is the updated Cubs 2008 post-season roster eligibility list.

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It looks like I'm four months late on this, but it appears that Rookie of the Month honors in the MLB is voted by the fans. The Cubs have two nominees, Geovany Soto and Jeff Samardzija and they'll go up against Cardinals reliever Chris Perez and Rockies third basemen Ian Stewart. Soto is looking for his second win of the year and voting runs through Monday.

 Samardzija provided a bullpen boost for the first-place Cubs. In 14 1/3 innings, he was 1-0 and didn't allow a run. Samardzija had 13 strikeouts during the month. Soto won rookie honors in April and has continued to be a firm offensive and defensive presence for a Chicago team that has taken charge of the NL Central. Soto hit .355 in August with five doubles, three homers and 21 RBIs. Soto drew 13 walks and scored 17 runs while handling himself well behind the plate and providing a level of comfort for the Chicago pitching staff.

A look at Geovany Soto's year compared to other Cubs catchers of years past after the jump...

Out of concern for the mental health of the many Cub fans who regularly populate The Cub Reporter, the authors request that, until further notice, visitors please refrain from using the following words or phrases anywhere on or near the site:

• shoulder
• arm
• "dead arm"
• "tired arm"
• strain
• discomfort
• triceps
• fatigued
• disabled
• "skip a turn"
• orthopedist
• Dr. Stephen Gryzlo
• examination
• magnetic
• resonance
• imaging
• "missed appointment"

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Please.Win.This.Game.

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The Cubs opened up registration for playoff tickets at Wrigley Field today. Basically you register online and winners are "randomly" selected to be able to purchase tickets for either the NLDS and NLCS (you may get lucky and win both). If you're chosen, you are limited to one game and two tickets for that series. You have until noon CST on September 19th to register for any possible NLDS games at Wrigley.

For those with more experience with this sort of thing, if you are a "winner", are you guaranteed tickets or just the right to enter the Virtual Waiting Room?

Ticket prices and full schedule after the jump...

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UPDATE (5:23 PM CST): Zambrano did see Dr. Gryzlo and was suppose to have an MRI today, but missed his appointment. Odd behavior. The MRI has been rescheduled for tomorrow. Sean Marshall will take his next start on Sunday versus the Reds.

Four game losing streak...unfortunate.

Offense struggling a bit...it happens to the best of them.

Carlos Zambrano going to see an orthopedic specialist...holy shit!!

And now Cub fans breathlessly await the results. The season may not hang in the balance but the difference between a dominating playoff rotation versus hopes and prayers does.

If Zambrano has to miss some starts or hit the disabled list for a few weeks, it means Sean Marshall to the rotation. In the short term, that's probably not much of a difference, especially with the way Z has pitched lately. After his last DL trip, Z returned with five starts and a 1.78 ERA before August hit, so maybe a little more rest will do him good. If it ends up being a more serious injury that puts the playoffs in jeopardy, then the Cubs will have to consider starting Jason Marquis in a playoff game and I'll have to consider slitting my wrists.

Bulletin board fodder from Carsten Charles after the jump...

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While Cub fans are hoping that the team's bats will come back to life (no EBH's among the club's last 27 hits), the greater concern right now is with Carlos Zambrano.

All Cubdom would like to see that the two extra days of rest Zambrano got when his scheduled Sunday start was pushed back to this evening have proven beneficial to his "fatigued" "dead" tired arm. If nothing else, in the span of those two days, the calendar turned from August to September.

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The minor league season ended over the weekend and here's how the lil' Cubbies fared.

(WHOOPS! - I guess Boise still has 2 games left. Close enough... )