Final Score:

Albuquerque 7
Iowa Cubs 5

Been listening to the game on the KXNO AM 1460 Des Moines internet radio.

Stats:

Prior: 87 pitches (55 strikes)
11 hits
2 back to back walks

All 7 runs were Earned making for an awful ERA.

They had Prior on after the game and made it sound like its a done deal that he's going back to Chicago to pitch for the Cubs. That sounds like fun.....for the other team.

1:20 CT. Kerry Wood v. Chris Capuano.

"[F]irst baseman Ryan Norwood suffered a severe ankle sprain in an exhibition game against Bradley," reports the Peoria Star-Journal. "Norwood, the Chiefs' projected cleanup hitter, is on crutches and is expected to miss the first 6-8 weeks of the season."

The Cubs Blog Army gets a mention at MarketWatch.com today. Frank Barnako writes in his column: "BaseballBlogs.org reports the Chicago Cubs have more coverage than any other team. 'All Baseball, All Blogs, All the Time,' is the site's mission. It lists, and links to, 87 Cubs Web logs. Second most popular are the Boston Red Sox with 76, and the New York Mets are third with 54. The least blog-covered team is the Florida Marlins with five." (Link added.)

Well, the first series for the Cubbies is all over and the team is 1-2 right now. The much vaunted pitching staff is clearly in a lackadaisical condition due to the overwork and bad moves made by both Manager Baker and GM Hendry.

Consider the case of Carlos Zambrano who threw 106 pitches in 4 2/3rds Innings and left the game with a 5.79 ERA. Folks, that is murderous especially considering the fact that Big Z is supposedly the team's best starting pitcher.

Hendry refused to try to keep Matt Clement on board and on top of that failed to try to find a quality replacement for the Bearded One. Obviously, Hendry believed his own lies about the alleged plethora of quality pitchers in the Cubs farm system.

Starting Friday, the Cub Killers From Milwaukee aka the Brewers will be in town and if last year was any indication, the Baker/Hendry Cubs will be lucky to avoid a sweep. Truly, folks in Pittsburgh must be saying to themselves, "Thank God for the Cubs" since the little bears figure to replace the Pirates as the basement dwellers in the NL Central pretty soon.