Jeff Baker News Archives

For as much as I expected the Cubs to finish the season strong, it wasn't going to make up for the fact that a number of teams in front of them in the Wild Card chase are not only better composed, but are actually riding pretty good hot streaks.

Derrek Lee added a two-run single for the Cubs, who have won seven of nine games.

Jeff Baker is 6-2, 210. Pablo Sandoval makes him look... tiny. Browse more photos>> Throughout this September, with the Cubs desperately clinging to hope of a postseason berth with a 16-9 start to the month, I kept thinking "stranger things have happened". From time to time, as you know, I'd cite various other late-season pennant collapses or ...

Jeff Baker, home run hero. Who would have thought? Browse more photos>> As the Cubs and their coaches and manager came onto the field for the handshakes and high-fives after their come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Giants, I saw something I don't think I've seen all year.

Though a postseason berth isn't likely in the Cubs' future, that doesn't mean they are just going to hand the Giants wins.

San Francisco Giants shortstop Juan Uribe hops over Chicago Cubs' Jeff Baker as Giants' Eugenio Velez, right, backs up the double play in the sixth inning.

Derrek Lee said Friday a celebratory slap on the head from Cubs teammate Angel Guzman was not the reason his neck spasms flared up and knocked him out of the lineup.

Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee will miss Friday's game against the San Francisco Giants because of neck spasms sustained while being congratulated after scoring on Jeff Baker's home run in the ninth inning of Thursday night's comeback win.

The Colorado Rockies insist they're not feeling the squeeze as the NL wild-card race tightens around them.

Jeff Baker hit a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning and the Chicago Cubs staved off elimination in the NL Central for a day by handing the San Francisco Giants a blow to their postseason hopes with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

This is the reason why the Brewers are a middling, .500 team-at-best -- their pitching sucks.

Has Milton Bradley played his last game this season? Maybe his last as a Cub? The right fielder took batting practice and jogged around the bases before Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Cardinals but then took himself out of the lineup, and manager Lou Piniella said after the game he doesn't know when Bradley might be able to play again.

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Kyle McClellan reacts after getting Chicago Cubs' Jeff Baker to ground out to end the top of the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept.

Alfonso Soriano will undergo arthroscopic surgery Tuesday on his left knee, giving him the last weeks of the season to begin rehabbing with the Cubs' training staff before he goes home to the Dominican Republic.

"Broke-Arm" Johnny Cueto vs. Randy Wells Story-lines The Chicago Cubs surge toward the improbable today as they play for their 5th straight win! The odds are in their favor as they square off against talented Reds youngster Johnny Cueto, who secretly prays to the Baby Jesus every night for Dusty Baker to drown in a vat of goat cheese.

CHICAGO – The Cubs won their fourth straight game Friday, at least proving they are better than dregs of the National League Central.

May there be many scenes like this today -- Cubs runners scoring. View full size photo uploaded September 11, 2009 Since the Cubs last faced the Reds in Cincinnati on August 5, the Reds are 17-16. That sounds decent, but they have been an extremely streaky team.

The scouts will tell you that spring training and September are the two worst times to draw conclusions about baseball players.

Micah Hoffpauir homered and knocked in two runs and Koyie Hill added two RBI, as the Chicago Cubs downed Pittsburgh, 8-5, in the finale of a three-game set from PNC Park.

Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto and Kosuke Fukudome had two-run hits in a record-tying first inning and the Chicago Cubs handed the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates their 11th loss in 12 games, 9-4 on Tuesday night.Chicago tied a major league record with eight consecutive hits to start the game.

Rich Harden is a bit of a mystery to his bosses. If manager Lou Piniella and pitching coach Larry Rothschild had an answer to the right-handed starter's home-and-away situation, perhaps he wouldn't be 3-6 with a 6.21 ERA in 13 starts at Wrigley Field this season and 5-2 with a 2.02 ERA in 10 starts away from the Friendly Confines.

Derrek Lee homered twice and drove in three runs in his return to the lineup, leading Rich Harden and the Chicago Cubs to a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday.

Omir Santos hit a two-run single in a five-run eighth inning, leading the Mets to a 6-2 win over the free-falling Cubs.

Aaron Boone ran to his position at first base and that's when it really hit him.

The Cubs were bracing for the worst, but they got two pieces of injury news Saturday that left them breathing a little easier.