# 2007 Chicago Cubs season

The 2007 Chicago Cubs season was the 136th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 132nd in the National League and the 92nd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs, trying to rebound after a season in which they finished last in their division for the first time since 2000, finished first in the National League Central with a record of 85–77. They were swept three games to none by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS.

## Offseason

In an attempt to rebuild the team, the Cubs were very aggressive in the free-agent market, signing a number of players with the goal of overtaking the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals in a competitive NL Central to win the World Series for the first time since 1908.
The first change was the signing of a new manager. On October 17, 2006, Lou Piniella signed a three-year deal with an option for a fourth season to manage the Cubs — the 50th manager in team history after Dusty Baker was not offered an extension of his contract following the 2006 season.
On November 14, 2006, the Cubs improved their depth by signing Mark DeRosa to a three-year, $13 million contract. DeRosa had played several positions for the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves earlier in his career. Two days later on November 16, Neal Cotts was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Chicago Cubs for David Aardsma and Carlos Vásquez (minors).
The Cubs made the largest acquisition in their team's history on November 20, 2006, as Alfonso Soriano agreed to an eight-year contract worth $136 million, an average of $17 million per year.
On December 7, Josh Hamilton was drafted by the Chicago Cubs from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 2006 rule 5 draft. Several hours later, Hamilton was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds from the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs added two starting pitchers to the rotation, starting with the signing of Ted Lilly on December 15, 2006, to a four-year, $40 million deal. This was followed on December 19, 2006, with the signing of Jason Marquis to a three-year contract worth $21 million.

## Regular season
### Season summary

The Cubs got off to a poor start after the first two months of the season, posting a 22–29 record going into a home series against the Atlanta Braves during the first weekend after Memorial Day. Derrek Lee led a players only meeting on May 30 attempting to turn around the team's poor performance. On the Friday start at Wrigley, Carlos Zambrano took the mound and the Cubs fell behind 7–1, including allowing five runs (four earned) in the fifth inning. Included in the inning was a passed ball and throwing error by catcher Michael Barrett. An altercation ensued between the pitcher and catcher in the dugout, in full view of the television camera crews. Zambrano was pulled from the game after the scuffle in which he gave up thirteen hits and had zero strikeouts, and Barrett was replaced by backup Koyie Hill.
On Saturday, the weekend series continued to be interesting, albeit outside of the boxscore. The Braves took an early 3–0 lead in the fourth inning against starting pitcher Rich Hill, but the Cubs clawed back with single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, tying the game 3–3. The Braves regained the lead in the eighth against reliever Will Ohman, but in the bottom of the frame, rookie Ángel Pagán led off by lining a ball into the right-field corner, and stopped at second with a double. Two pitches later, Pagán attempted to advance to third on a wild pitch, but was thrown out on a close play. Both Piniella and third-base coach Mike Quade argued the call with umpire Mark Wegner, and Piniella began kicking dirt, throwing and kicking his cap until being thrown out of the game. Allegedly, Piniella kicked umpire Wegner, and was reported to the MLB offices by crew chief Bruce Froemming. Play was delayed for seven minutes while the grounds crew cleaned up debris in the outfield. The Cubs lost the game 5–3, worsening their record to a season-low nine games below .500 at 22–31. Piniella was suspended for four games for the incident, and later recognized that Wegner made the right call.
Two weeks later, Barrett was recorded having a heated discussion with starter Rich Hill. Questions quickly surfaced to the level of friction between the two players due to the recent incident with Zambrano, but both players indicated that there was no issue, rather frustration due to the opposing pitcher Jarrod Washburn hitting a hanging slider that put the Mariners up 3–2. The Cubs ultimately lost the game 5–3 in extra innings on another contentious play where Barrett dropped the ball on a throw to the plate. After the altercations with Zambrano and Hill, Barrett lost his role as the everyday catcher for the team. Just one week later, Barrett was traded to the San Diego Padres for catcher Rob Bowen.
The Cubs improved their play during the month of June, upping their record to 38–39 after a stretch of 16–8 after the Piniella ejection. They finished June with a key series at home against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers starting on June 29. Rich Hill once again took the mound, but gave up five runs in the first inning and lasted just three innings. The Cubs relievers kept the game close, but they still trailed 5–3 going into the bottom of the ninth against Francisco Cordero. Going into the game, Cordero led the league with 27 saves, and had blown only two. After retiring the first player in the inning, Cordero gave up back-to-back singles, and with runners at first and third allowing the potential winning run to come to the plate in the player of Derrek Lee. Lee hit a deep fly ball, but the wind knocked it down and was caught for a sacrifice fly. That made it two outs bringing third baseman Aramis Ramírez to the plate. Ramirez hit the first pitch into the left-center bleachers, winning the game 6–5. The victory pulled the Cubs back to .500, and trimmed the Brewers lead down to 6½ games. The Cubs ended the first half of the season 4.5 games out of first place, behind the Milwaukee Brewers, with a record of 44 wins and 43 losses.
The Chicago Cubs got off to a good start in the second half by sweeping the Houston Astros at home and taking three of four from the San Francisco Giants. In those series Ted Lilly won his third and fourth starts in a row, helping pitch the Cubs to 9–3 and 9–8 victories. On July 22, the Cubs passed the two-million attendance mark at Wrigley Field averaging over 40,000 fans per game at home through the first 49 games of the season and on pace to set a new home attendance record for the club. The Cubs spent a majority of July in hopes of claiming first place. After finishing the month with seventeen wins and nine losses, the team was merely half a game behind the Brewers by July 31. The Cubs won their final game in July and first game in August. The latter win, coupled with an earlier Brewers' loss, allowed the two teams to be tied for first place in the NL Central. However, the Cubs began to struggle in their next outings. They failed to win three consecutive series, and later temporarily lost Alfonso Soriano, Ángel Pagán, and Will Ohman to injuries. Despite the slump, the Cubs only managed to remain half a game behind the Brewers, who managed to lose thirteen of eighteen games. They closed out the final weeks of the season by having a successful home stand, where they won five of six games and took a three and a half game lead over the Brewers.
At their final home game, the Cubs' organization reported that they had set a franchise attendance record of 3,252,462 fans over the season.
During the month of June, the Cubs ended up winning seventeen games, making that their best month of the season: taking two of three from Milwaukee, two of three from the Seattle, sweeping the White Sox as well as the Rockies, and then taking another two of three games from Milwaukee. The Cubs won another seventeen games during that month; taking three of four from the Nationals, sweeping the Giants, two of three from the Cardinals, and two of three from the Phillies. During this three-month-long hot streak, the Cubs managed to sign Carlos Zambrano to a five-year, ninety million dollar contract. Also, the Cubs left fielder, Alfonso Soriano, was named the June National League player of the Month; followed by the Cubs ace, Carlos Zambrano, being named the National League Pitcher of the month. The team struggled throughout August, but managed to surpass the Milwaukee Brewers and win the division.
Going into the last week of the season, the Cubs won ten of twelve games and had a three-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. However, the Cubs dropped three in a row to the Florida Marlins, a team that the Cubs did not win a single game against during the whole season. Meanwhile, the Brewers lost two out of three, hurting their chance at taking over the top of the division. On September 28, thanks to a Cubs 6–0 win over the Cincinnati Reds and a Brewers 6–3 loss to the San Diego Padres, the Cubs clinched the NL Central division.

### Postseason

The Cubs played the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series. After falling 3–1 to Arizona on October 3 and an 8–4 loss on October 4, the Cubs returned on October 6 to Wrigley Field to lose the third game of the series by score of 5–1. The loss eliminated the Cubs from postseason play.

### In-season trades

* On June 20, the Cubs traded catcher Michael Barrett to the San Diego Padres for catcher Rob Bowen and a minor league outfielder Kyler Burke.
* On July 16, the Cubs acquired Jason Kendall from the Oakland Athletics for fellow catcher Rob Bowen and minor league pitcher Jerry Blevins.
* On July 19, the Cubs traded César Izturis, along with a cash settlement, to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* On August 23, the Cubs acquired Craig Monroe from the Detroit Tigers for Clay Rapada.
* On August 31, the Cubs acquired pitcher Steve Trachsel from the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Rocky Cherry and third baseman Scott Moore.

### First-year player draft

The Cubs selected high school third baseman Josh Vitters with the third overall pick of the 2007 MLB Draft.

### Season standings
#### National League Central

vteNL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago Cubs | 85 | 77 | .525 | — | 44‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 2 | 51‍–‍30 | 32‍–‍49 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 78 | 84 | .481 | 7 | 43‍–‍38 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Houston Astros | 73 | 89 | .451 | 12 | 42‍–‍39 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 72 | 90 | .444 | 13 | 39‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 68 | 94 | .420 | 17 | 37‍–‍44 | 31‍–‍50 |

#### Record vs. opponents

2007 National League recordvte Source: :
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LAD | MIL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | WSH | AL |
| Arizona | — | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 8–10 | 6–1 | 5–2 | 8–10 | 2–5 | 3–4 | 5–1 | 5–4 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 4–3 | 6–1 | 8–7 |
| Atlanta | 2–4 | — | 5–4 | 1–6 | 4–2 | 10–8 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 5–2 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 5–1 | 5–2 | 4–3 | 3–4 | 11–7 | 4–11 |
| Chicago | 2–4 | 4–5 | — | 9–9 | 5–2 | 0–6 | 8–7 | 2–5 | 9–6 | 2–5 | 3–4 | 8–7 | 3–5 | 5–2 | 11–5 | 6–1 | 8–4 |
| Cincinnati | 4–2 | 6–1 | 9–9 | — | 2–4 | 4–3 | 4–11 | 2–4 | 8–7 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 9–7 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 6–9 | 1–6 | 7-11 |
| Colorado | 10–8 | 2–4 | 2–5 | 4–2 | — | 3–3 | 3–4 | 12–6 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 4–3 | 11–8 | 10–8 | 3–4 | 4–3 | 10–8 |
| Florida | 1–6 | 8–10 | 6–0 | 3–4 | 3–3 | — | 2–3 | 4–3 | 2–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 1–6 | 2–4 | 8–10 | 9–9 |
| Houston | 2–5 | 3–3 | 7–8 | 11–4 | 4–3 | 3-2 | — | 4–3 | 5–13 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 5–10 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 7–9 | 2–5 | 9–9 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 3–4 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 6–12 | 3–4 | 3–4 | — | 3–3 | 5–5 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 5–10 |
| Milwaukee | 5–2 | 2–5 | 6–9 | 7–8 | 2–4 | 5–2 | 13–5 | 3–3 | — | 2–4 | 3–4 | 10–6 | 2–5 | 4–5 | 7–8 | 4–2 | 8–7 |
| New York | 4–3 | 9–9 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 2–4 | 11–7 | 5–2 | 5–5 | 4–2 | — | 6–12 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 9–9 | 8–7 |
| Philadelphia | 1-5 | 9–9 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 9–9 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 12–6 | — | 4–2 | 4–3 | 4–4 | 6–3 | 12–6 | 8–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 4–5 | 1–5 | 7–8 | 7–9 | 3–4 | 4–3 | 10–5 | 2–5 | 6–10 | 2–4 | 2–4 | — | 1–6 | 4–2 | 6–12 | 4–2 | 5–10 |
| San Diego | 8–10 | 2–5 | 5–3 | 4–2 | 8–11 | 4–3 | 3–4 | 10–8 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 6–1 | — | 14–4 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 6–9 |
| San Francisco | 8–10 | 3–4 | 2–5 | 3–4 | 8–10 | 6–1 | 4–2 | 8–10 | 5–4 | 2–4 | 4–4 | 2–4 | 4–14 | — | 4–1 | 3–4 | 5–10 |
| St. Louis | 3–4 | 4–3 | 5–11 | 9–6 | 4–3 | 4-2 | 9–7 | 3–3 | 8–7 | 2–5 | 3–6 | 12–6 | 4–3 | 1–4 | — | 1–5 | 6–9 |
| Washington | 1–6 | 7–11 | 1–6 | 6–1 | 3–4 | 10-8 | 5–2 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 5–1 | — | 9–9 |

### Game log

2007 Game Log (85–77) :
April: 10–14 (Home: 4–9; Away: 6–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox
1April 2@ Reds5–1Harang (1–0)Zambrano (0–1)42,7200–1
2April 4@ Reds4–1Lilly (1–0)Arroyo (0–1)Dempster (1)25,9651–1
3April 5@ Reds5–2Santos (1–0)Howry (0–1)Weathers (1)25,0701–2
4April 6@ Brewers9–3Hill (1–0)Bush (0–1)41,7582–2
5April 7@ Brewers6–3Zambrano (1–1)Sheets (1–1)Dempster (2)41,2823–2
6April 8@ Brewers9–4Capuano (1–0)Miller (0–1)28,0193–3
7April 9Astros5–3Qualls (1–1)Howry (0–2)Wheeler (1)41,3883–4
8April 10Astros4–2Sampson (1–0)Marquis (0–1)35,9243–5
–April 11AstrosPostponed (snow) Rescheduled for June 11
9April 13Reds6–5Coffey (1–0)Zambrano (1–2)Weathers (4)37,2673–6
10April 14Reds7–0Hill (2–0)Arroyo (0–2)38,5984–6
11April 15Reds1–0Lohse (1–0)Lilly (1–1)Weathers (5)39,8204–7
12April 16Padres12–4Marquis (1–1)Hensley (0–3)32,1265–7
13April 17Padres4–3 (14)Brocail (1–0)Ohman (0–1)Hoffman (3)36,0215–8
14April 18@ Braves8–6Villarreal (1–0)Eyre (0–1)Wickman (5)26,8375–9
15April 19@ Braves3–0Hill (3–0)Redman (0–3)Dempster (3)31,6036–9
16April 20Cardinals2–1Looper (3–1)Lilly (1–2)Isringhausen (4)38,9556–10
17April 21Cardinals6–0Marquis (2–1)Reyes (0–3)41,6377–10
18April 22Cardinals12–9 (10)Isringhausen (1–0)Dempster (0–1)40,1937–11
19April 23Brewers5–4 (12)Villanueva (1–0)Cherry (0–1)Turnbow (1)33,9207–12
20April 24Brewers4–1Suppan (2–2)Hill (3–1)Cordero (8)34,3827–13
21April 25Brewers9–3Lilly (2–2)Dessens (1–1)38,5818–13
22April 27@ Cardinals5–3Marquis (3–1)Reyes (0–4)Dempster (4)45,1319–13
23April 28@ Cardinals8–1Zambrano (2–2)Wainwright (1–2)45,01510–13
–April 29@ CardinalsPostponed (death of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock) Rescheduled for September 15
24April 30@ Pirates3–2Capps (2–0)Wuertz (0–1)Torres (8)11,43710–14 :
May: 12–15 (Home: 6–6; Away: 6–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox
25May 1@ Pirates8–6Cherry (1–1)Bayliss (2–2)Dempster (5)13,08211–14
26May 2@ Pirates7–1Marquis (4–1)Snell (2–2)21,76512–14
27May 4Nationals6–4Zambrano (3–2)Bergmann (0–3)Dempster (6)39,44413–14
28May 5Nationals5–3Hill (4–1)Patterson (1–5)Dempster (7)40,26714–14
29May 6Nationals4–3 (10)Dempster (1–1)Wagner (0–2)40,48115–14
30May 8Pirates4–3 (15)Bayliss (3–2)Cotts (0–1)Torres (10)39,70815–15
31May 9Pirates1–0Marquis (5–1)Gorzelanny (4–2)40,26416–15
32May 10Pirates6–4Maholm (2–4)Zambrano (3–3)Torres (11)41,10116–16
33May 11@ Phillies7–2Hamels (5–1)Hill (4–2)42,47316–17
34May 12@ Phillies11–7Alfonseca (2–1)Howry (0–3)45,02616–18
35May 13@ Phillies4–1Lilly (3–2)Lieber (1–2)Dempster (8)45,12917–18
36May 14@ Mets5–4Heilman (4–2)Wuertz (0–2)34,03317–19
37May 15@ Mets10–1Zambrano (4–3)Maine (5–1)37,48718–19
38May 16@ Mets8–1Sosa (3–0)Hill (4–3)37,48318–20
39May 17@ Mets6–5Burgos (1–0)Dempster (1–2)42,66718–21
40May 18White Sox6–3Lilly (4–2)MacDougal (1–1)Dempster (9)40,87419–21
41May 19White Sox11–6Howry (1–3)Aardsma (2–1)41,10120–21
42May 20White Sox10–6Masset (2–1)Zambrano (4–4)41,16420–22
43May 22@ Padres5–1Peavy (6–1)Hill (4–4)Hoffman (12)26,19220–23
44May 23@ Padres2–1Wells (2–2)Marshall (0–1)Hoffman (11)27,53520–24
45May 24@ Padres3–1Howry (2–3)Meredith (1–2)Dempster (10)32,25821–24
46May 25@ Dodgers9–8Seánez (2–0)Ohman (0–2)Saito (15)46,01121–25
47May 26@ Dodgers4–2Zambrano (5–4)Hendrickson (2–2)Dempster (11)48,24322–25
48May 27@ Dodgers2–1 (11)Billingsley (3–0)Guzmán (0–1)51,19822–26
49May 28Marlins5–3Kim (3–2)Marshall (0–2)Gregg (5)41,63022–27
50May 29Marlins9–4Willis (7–3)Marquis (5–2)Gregg (6)39,78822–28
51May 30Marlins9–0Messenger (1–1)Lilly (4–3)36,69922–29 :
June: 17–11 (Home: 9–6; Away: 8–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox
52June 1Braves8–5Davies (1–1)Zambrano (5–5)39,52322–30
53June 2Braves5–3Yates (2–0)Ohman (0–3)Wickman (9)40,29022–31
54June 3Braves10–1Marshall (1–2)Cormier (0–1)40,15523–31
55June 4@ Brewers7–2Mármol (1–0)Bush (3–6)35,76024–31
56June 5@ Brewers7–5Vargas (4–1)Lilly (4–4)Cordero (22)38,53524–32
57June 6@ Brewers6–2Zambrano (6–5)Suppan (7–6)40,18625–32
58June 7@ Braves2–1Hill (5–4)James (5–5)Dempster (12)32,90226–32
59June 8@ Braves9–1Marshall (2–2)Cormier (0–2)37,12327–32
60June 9@ Braves9–5Moylan (2–1)Marquis (5–3)51,81627–33
61June 10@ Braves5–4Paronto (3–1)Dempster (1–3)Wickman (11)32,75227–34
62June 11Astros2–1Zambrano (7–5)Williams (2–9)Dempster (13)37,94728–34
63June 12Mariners5–3 (13)O'Flaherty (3–0)Ohman (0–4)Putz (18)40,07128–35
64June 13Mariners3–2Marshall (3–2)Batista (7–5)Dempster (14)40,16329–35
65June 14Mariners5–4Howry (3–3)Morrow (3–1)39,84630–35
66June 15Padres4–1Lilly (5–4)Wells (3–4)Dempster (15)40,47931–35
67June 16Padres1–0Bell (1–2)Zambrano (7–6)Hoffman (19)41,63231–36
68June 17Padres11–3Maddux (6–3)Hill (5–5)40,96431–37
69June 19@ Rangers5–4Mármol (2–0)Benoit (2–2)Dempster (16)38,29032–37
70June 20@ Rangers7–3Loe (3–6)Marquis (5–4)37,56432–38
71June 21@ Rangers6–5Gagné (2–0)Howry (3–4)38,40632–39
72June 22@ White Sox5–1Zambrano (8–6)Buehrle (4–4)39,04633–39
73June 23@ White Sox2–1Wuertz (1–2)Jenks (2–3)Howry (1)39,04334–39
74June 24@ White Sox3–0Marshall (4–2)Contreras (5–8)Howry (2)39,19435–39
75June 25Rockies10–9Howry (4–4)Fuentes (0–2)40,26936–39
76June 26Rockies8–5Lilly (6–4)López (4–1)Ohman (1)40,12137–39
77June 27Rockies6–4Zambrano (9–6)Hirsh (3–7)Mármol (1)39,97238–39
78June 29Brewers6–5Howry (5–4)Cordero (0–2)41,90939–39
79June 30Brewers13–4Sheets (10–3)Marshall (4–3)41,41539–40 :
July: 17–9 (Home: 9–4; Away: 8–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox
80July 1Brewers5–1Marquis (6–4)Bush (6–7)41,48640–40
81July 2@ Nationals7–2Lilly (7–4)Simontacchi (5–6)24,01541–40
82July 3@ Nationals3–1Zambrano (10–6)Redding (0–1)Howry (3)30,10642–40
83July 4@ Nationals6–0Chico (4–5)Hill (5–6)39,20742–41
84July 5@ Nationals4–2Ohman (1–4)Ayala (0–1)Howry (4)22,59443–41
85July 6@ Pirates8–4Maholm (5–11)Marquis (6–5)27,86843–42
86July 7@ Pirates7–1Lilly (8–4)Van Benschoten (0–3)33,29344–42
87July 8@ Pirates6–2Youman (2–0)Zambrano (10–7)22,47044–43
All–Star Break (July 9–12)
88July 13Astros6–0Zambrano (11–7)Jennings (1–5)41,59345–43
89July 14Astros9–3Lilly (9–4)Oswalt (8–6)41,44846–43
90July 15Astros7–6Wuertz (2–2)Rodríguez (6–8)Howry (5)41,75747–43
91July 16Giants3–2Hill (6–6)Correia (1–5)Howry (6)40,28248–43
92July 17Giants4–2Zito (7–9)Mármol (2–1)Hennessey (6)41,10248–44
93July 18Giants12–1Zambrano (12–7)Cain (3–11)Gallagher (1)39,79249–44
94July 19Giants9–8Lilly (10–4)Morris (7–6)Howry (7)40,19850–44
95July 20D-backs6–2Marquis (7–5)Webb (8–8)41,07151–44
96July 21D-backs3–2Cruz (4–1)Howry (5–5)Valverde (29)41,63251–45
97July 22D-backs3–0Petit (2–2)Marshall (4–4)Valverde (30)41,70551–46
98July 24@ Cardinals4–3Zambrano (13–7)Wells (4–13)Dempster (17)45,43652–46
99July 25@ Cardinals7–1Lilly (11–4)Wainwright (9–8)45,31653–46
100July 26@ Cardinals11–1Looper (8–8)Marquis (7–6)45,30853–47
101July 27@ Reds5–4Weathers (2–3)Howry (5–6)36,63553–48
102July 28@ Reds8–1Marshall (5–4)Harang (10–3)42,36554–48
103July 29@ Reds6–0Zambrano (14–7)Belisle (5–8)33,06155–48
104July 30Phillies4–1Hamels (12–5)Lilly (11–5)Myers (7)41,68655–49
105July 31Phillies7–3Marquis (8–6)Eaton (9–7)40,49556–49 :
August: 12–16 (Home: 7–8; Away: 5–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox
106August 1Phillies5–4Dempster (2–3)Myers (1–3)40,55857–49
107August 2Phillies10–6Durbin (4–2)Marshall (5–5)40,98857–50
108August 3Mets6–2Mota (1–0)Dempster (2–4)41,51257–51
109August 4Mets6–2Lilly (12–5)Maine (12–6)41,41258–51
110August 5Mets8–3Glavine (10–6)Marquis (8–7)41,59958–52
111August 6@ Astros2–1 (10)Lidge (3–1)Wuertz (2–3)36,45958–53
112August 7@ Astros5–2Williams (6–12)Marshall (5–6)Lidge (7)37,56158–54
113August 8@ Astros8–2Oswalt (12–6)Zambrano (14–8)41,65558–55
114August 9@ Rockies10–2Lilly (13–5)Jiménez (1–2)40,73859–55
115August 10@ Rockies6–2Marquis (9–7)Cook (8–7)41,28260–55
116August 11@ Rockies15–2Fogg (7–7)Hill (6–7)48,09560–56
117August 12@ Rockies6–3Herges (1–0)Wood (0–1)Corpas (9)39,17660–57
118August 14Reds6–5Harang (12–3)Zambrano (14–9)Weathers (23)40,75060–58
119August 15Reds11–9Bray (1–0)Howry (5–7)Weathers (24)40,16260–59
120August 16Reds12–4Marquis (10–7)Livingston (3–3)40,37261–59
121August 17Cardinals2–1Hill (7–7)Looper (10–10)Dempster (18)41,63462–59
122August 18Cardinals5–3Marshall (6–6)Reyes (2–12)Dempster (19)41,36963–59
–August 19CardinalsPostponed (rain) Rescheduled for September 10
123August 20Cardinals6–4Piñeiro (4–2)Lilly (13–6)Isringhausen (23)40,14163–60
124August 21@ Giants5–1Eyre (1–1)Lincecum (7–4)41,24264–60
125August 22@ Giants4–2Mármol (3–1)Misch (0–3)Dempster (20)39,54865–60
126August 23@ Giants4–1Cain (6–13)Zambrano (14–10)Hennessey (13)41,55865–61
127August 24@ D-backs6–2Marshall (7–6)Owings (6–7)Dempster (21)36,70066–61
128August 25@ D-backs3–1Davis (11–11)Lilly (13–7)Valverde (39)46,17366–62
129August 26@ D-backs5–4González (6–2)Marquis (10–8)Valverde (40)38,90266–63
130August 28Brewers5–3Hill (8–7)Linebrink (4–6)Dempster (22)40,88467–63
131August 29Brewers6–1Sheets (11–4)Zambrano (14–11)40,51267–64
132August 30Brewers5–4Mármol (4–1)Capuano (5–12)Dempster (23)40,79068–64
133August 31Astros6–1Rodríguez (8–12)Marshall (7–7)41,29768–65 :
September: 17–12 (Home: 8–4; Away: 9–8 )
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox
134September 1Astros4–3Marquis (11–8)Patton (0–2)Dempster (24)40,60669–65
135September 2Astros6–5Mármol (5–1)Qualls (6–4)Dempster (25)41,41570–65
136September 3Dodgers11–3Loaiza (2–0)Zambrano (14–12)41,07070–66
137September 4Dodgers6–2Penny (15–4)Trachsel (6–9)37,83470–67
138September 5Dodgers8–2Lilly (14–7)Stults (1–3)39,55971–67
139September 6Dodgers7–4Beimel (4–1)Dempster (2–5)Saito (37)39,39771–68
140September 7@ Pirates6–1Gorzelanny (14–7)Hill (8–8)24,48971–69
141September 8@ Pirates5–1Zambrano (15–12)Snell (9–12)33,37372–69
142September 9@ Pirates10–5Morris (9–9)Trachsel (6–10)21,86172–70
143September 10Cardinals12–3Lilly (15–7)Piñeiro (5–4)40,35873–70
144September 11@ Astros5–4 (11)Lidge (4–2)Dempster (2–6)33,49373–71
145September 12@ Astros3–2Hill (9–8)Albers (4–8)Dempster (26)33,11574–71
146September 13@ Astros6–2Trachsel (7–10)Williams (8–15)34,23475–71
147September 14@ Cardinals5–3Zambrano (16–12)Wainwright (13–11)Howry (8)45,75076–71
148September 15@ Cardinals3–2Wood (1–1)Franklin (4–4)Dempster (27)45,91877–71
149September 15@ Cardinals4–3Piñeiro (6–4)Marshall (7–8)Isringhausen (29)45,89477–72
150September 16@ Cardinals4–2Marquis (12–8)Mulder (0–3)Dempster (28)45,73578–72
151September 17Reds7–6Ohman (2–4)Weathers (2–6)39,07579–72
152September 18Reds5–2Harang (16–4)Zambrano (16–13)Weathers (31)40,80179–73
153September 19Reds3–2Howry (6–7)Majewski (0–3)40,80580–73
154September 21Pirates13–8Eyre (2–1)Osoria (0–2)41,59181–73
155September 22Pirates9–5Hill (10–8)Duke (3–8)41,27182–73
156September 23Pirates8–0Zambrano (17–13)Gorzelanny (14–9)41,36483–73
157September 25@ Marlins4–2Willis (10–15)Lilly (15–8)Tankersley (1)16,04483–74
158September 26@ Marlins7–4Kensing (2–0)Marquis (12–9)Gardner (2)19,05183–75
159September 27@ Marlins6–4Olsen (10–15)Trachsel (7–11)Gregg (31)24,80983–76
160September 28@ Reds6–0Zambrano (18–13)Arroyo (9–15)32,19384–76
161September 29@ Reds4–0Hill (11–8)Harang (16–6)38,93685–76
162September 30@ Reds8–4Bailey (4–2)Dempster (2–7)32,62085–77 :
Legend:         = Win         = Loss         = Postponement Bold = Cubs team member :

## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | AVG | SLG |
| Alfonso Soriano | 135 | 579 | 97 | 173 | 42 | 5 | 33 | 70 | 19 | 31 | .299 | .560 |
| Derrek Lee | 150 | 567 | 91 | 180 | 43 | 1 | 22 | 82 | 6 | 71 | .317 | .513 |
| Ryan Theriot | 148 | 537 | 80 | 143 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 45 | 28 | 49 | .266 | .346 |
| Aramis Ramírez | 132 | 506 | 72 | 157 | 35 | 4 | 26 | 101 | 0 | 43 | .310 | .549 |
| Mark DeRosa | 149 | 502 | 64 | 147 | 28 | 3 | 10 | 72 | 1 | 58 | .293 | .420 |
| Jacque Jones | 135 | 453 | 52 | 129 | 33 | 2 | 5 | 66 | 6 | 34 | .285 | .400 |
| Cliff Floyd | 108 | 282 | 40 | 80 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 45 | 0 | 35 | .284 | .422 |
| Matt Murton | 94 | 235 | 35 | 66 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 22 | 1 | 26 | .281 | .438 |
| Mike Fontenot | 86 | 234 | 32 | 65 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 29 | 5 | 22 | .278 | .402 |
| Michael Barrett | 57 | 211 | 23 | 54 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 29 | 2 | 17 | .256 | .427 |
| César Izturis | 65 | 191 | 15 | 47 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 13 | .246 | .304 |
| Félix Pie | 87 | 177 | 26 | 38 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 8 | 14 | .215 | .33 |
| Jason Kendall | 57 | 174 | 21 | 47 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 19 | .270 | .356 |
| Ángel Pagán | 71 | 148 | 21 | 39 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 4 | 10 | .264 | .439 |
| Daryle Ward | 79 | 110 | 16 | 36 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 22 | .327 | .527 |
| Koyie Hill | 36 | 93 | 7 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 8 | .161 | .269 |
| Ronny Cedeño | 38 | 74 | 6 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 2 | 3 | .203 | .392 |
| Geovany Soto | 18 | 54 | 12 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 5 | .389 | .667 |
| Henry Blanco | 22 | 54 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | .167 | .222 |
| Craig Monroe | 23 | 49 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | .204 | .347 |
| Rob Bowen | 10 | 31 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .065 | .097 |
| Jake Fox | 7 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .143 | .286 |
| Eric Patterson | 7 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .375 |
| Sam Fuld | 14 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 |
| Scott Moore | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 |
| Pitcher Totals | 162 | 349 | 24 | 53 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 4 | .152 | .203 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5643 | 752 | 1530 | 340 | 28 | 151 | 711 | 86 | 500 | .271 | .422 |
Source:

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Carlos Zambrano | 18 | 13 | 3.95 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 216.1 | 187 | 100 | 95 | 101 | 177 |
| Ted Lilly | 15 | 8 | 3.83 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 207.0 | 181 | 91 | 88 | 55 | 174 |
| Rich Hill | 11 | 8 | 3.92 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 195.0 | 170 | 89 | 85 | 63 | 183 |
| Jason Marquis | 12 | 9 | 4.60 | 34 | 33 | 0 | 191.2 | 190 | 111 | 98 | 76 | 109 |
| Sean Marshall | 7 | 8 | 3.92 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 103.1 | 107 | 52 | 45 | 35 | 67 |
| Bob Howry | 6 | 7 | 3.32 | 78 | 0 | 8 | 81.1 | 76 | 31 | 30 | 19 | 72 |
| Michael Wuertz | 2 | 3 | 3.48 | 73 | 0 | 0 | 72.1 | 64 | 30 | 28 | 35 | 79 |
| Carlos Mármol | 5 | 1 | 1.43 | 59 | 0 | 1 | 69.1 | 41 | 11 | 11 | 35 | 96 |
| Ryan Dempster | 2 | 7 | 4.73 | 66 | 0 | 28 | 66.2 | 59 | 36 | 35 | 30 | 55 |
| Scott Eyre | 2 | 1 | 4.13 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 52.1 | 59 | 26 | 24 | 35 | 45 |
| Will Ohman | 2 | 4 | 4.95 | 56 | 0 | 1 | 36.1 | 42 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 33 |
| Ángel Guzmán | 0 | 1 | 3.56 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 30.1 | 32 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 26 |
| Kerry Wood | 1 | 1 | 3.33 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 24.1 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 24 |
| Steve Trachsel | 1 | 3 | 8.31 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 17.1 | 25 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 11 |
| Neal Cotts | 0 | 1 | 4.86 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16.2 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 14 |
| Rocky Cherry | 1 | 1 | 3.00 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 15.0 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 13 |
| Sean Gallagher | 0 | 0 | 8.59 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 14.2 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 5 |
| Wade Miller | 0 | 1 | 10.54 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13.2 | 24 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 6 |
| Kevin Hart | 0 | 0 | 0.82 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 13 |
| Billy Petrick | 0 | 0 | 7.45 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Carmen Pignatiello | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Clay Rapada | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 85 | 77 | 4.04 | 162 | 162 | 39 | 1446.2 | 1340 | 690 | 650 | 573 | 1211 |
Source:

## Playoffs
### NLDS vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

| Game | Score | Date | Starters | Time (ET) |
| 1 | Chicago Cubs 1 at Arizona Diamondbacks 3 | October 3 | Carlos Zambrano (ND) vs. Brandon Webb (1–0) | 10:07 p.m. |
| 2 | Chicago Cubs 4 at Arizona Diamondbacks 8 | October 4 | Ted Lilly (0–1) vs. Doug Davis (1–0) | 10:07 p.m. |
| 3 | Arizona Diamondbacks 5 at Chicago Cubs 1 | October 6 | Liván Hernández (1–0) vs. Rich Hill (0–1) | 6:07 p.m. |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Iowa Cubs | Pacific Coast League | Buddy Bailey |
| AA | Tennessee Smokies | Southern League | Pat Listach |
| A | Daytona Cubs | Florida State League | Jody Davis |
| A | Peoria Chiefs | Midwest League | Ryne Sandberg |
| A-Short Season | Boise Hawks | Northwest League | Tom Beyers |
| Rookie | AZL Cubs | Arizona League | Ricardo Medina |