A Star(lin) is Born

The Cubs may have pushed the panic button in Year One in hopes that it might spark the offense and get the team going in a positive direction. The Chicago Cubs called up highly touted prospect Starlin Castro. In his first major league at bat, the youngster hit a three run homer and all things were looking up for the Boys in Blue. His first night in the bigs wasn't too shabby. A homer, a triple, and a rookie record 6 RBIs, but maybe more importantly, a Cubs win. The weekend to follow, however, wasn't exactly a dream come true.

Saturday started off okay. The Cubs kept it close for most of the day until the seventh and eighth innings rolled around. The Cincinnati Reds would go on to score a combined 11 runs in those two innings and break out to a 14 to 2 lead, which is how the game would end up. Aaron Harang, who hasn't exactly put up Cy Young worthy numbers early in the season, struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings. Starlin Castro committed his first major league error, but would get himself his first major league double. The bullpen woes continue as Justin Berg pitched an inning and gave up six earned runs.

Rookie Mike Leake took a no hitter into the seventh for the Reds until another rookie Tyler Colvin came to the plate and belted a two run homer to give the Cubs the lead. That lead wouldn't last more than half an inning as Joey Votto came to the plate and hit a three-run homer as the Reds would take the lead for good and give them a series win over the Cubs. Castro got a single and Marlon Byrd continues to see the ball VERY well adding another hit to his total for the season. Mike Leake improves to 3-0 on the season and Ryan Dempster falls to 2-3.

This inconsistency leads to a lot of questions in Cubbieland. How long will the Ricketts family sit aside and let Jim Hendry do his job? How much longer will Lou be in the dugout? Will Castro continue to impress at the plate? Hopefully answers are provided soon.