Zambrano Cruises to 5th Straight

Soto, DeRosa add big flies as well

(NEWSER) - Alfonso Soriano homered in his first two at-bats, Geovany Soto and Mark DeRosa also homered and the surging Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4 Friday for their seventh win in eight games. Soriano connected on the first pitch from Tom Gorzelanny for his third leadoff homer in four games and launched a three-run shot in the second inning, making it 6-0. More»

(NEWSER) - Khalil Greene hit a three-run home run to help Shawn Estes earn his first victory since 2005 with the San Diego Padres' 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. Estes pitched 5 1-3 innings and the Padres' bullpen secured the win with 3 2-3 innings of hitless relief. Trevor Hoffman pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save in nine chances. More»

Zambrano solid on the mound; Soriano hits first long-ball of year

(NEWSER) - Derrek Lee found his power stroke quickly this year. Lee hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh, Carlos Zambrano struck out seven in seven innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros 3-2 Sunday. Lee connected against Oscar Villarreal (0-2) for his third big fly already this season after not hitting his first homer last season until the 21st game. More»

Slugging catcher dealt to San Diego after brawl with staff ace

(NEWSER) - Fiery power-hitting catcher Michael Barrett is through in Chi-town, after he followed a genius 2006 campaign with a season marred by poor defense, erratic hitting, and a bloody feud with pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Cubs GM Jim Hendry denied that Barrett's off-field liveliness led to the trade, citing instead a need for defensive retooling. More»

Rays at the head of the class—Rockies, Marlins at the back

(NEWSER) - Report card time! Here’s how the rambunctious kids of MLB are doing so far, in Yahoo Sports’ Steven Henson’s estimation. A students—Rays, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, White Sox Particular kudos go to the Rays, the poor kid who went to the head of the class. B students—Cardinals, Brewers, Twins, Phillies, Yankees, Athletics, Marlins, Orioles The Cardinals have a slight edge in the wildcard race. The Yankees, meanwhile, barely scrape together a B. More»