Baseball

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry refused to call it a salary dump, but the Cubs wound up saving a few bucks Tuesday. As expected, they traded No. 5 starting pitcher Jason Marquis to the Colorado Rockies for onetime White Sox reliever Luis Vizcaino and cash considerations.

If Jim Hendry seems eager to get to the general managers meetings, maybe it's because the hot-stove season began much too soon for the Cubs general manager.

The Cubs announced Friday they have declined the $3 million option for 2009 on backup catcher Henry Blanco's contract.

The White Sox no longer are trying to back their way into the playoffs.

If there had been a noise meter to measure the booing at U.S. Cellular Field on Saturday night, White Sox starter Javier Vazquez would have been the winner by a mile.

Javier Vazquez again showed he is not a good pitcher on just three days' rest during Saturday's start against the Indians.

Just as he did back on Sept. 15 against the Astros at Miller Park, Ted Lilly took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Saturday against this ballpark's rightful tenants, the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella confirmed Saturday that rookie right-hander Jeff Samardzija has made the roster for the National League division series.

It seemed too good to be true. First a 1-0 score popped up on the right-field scoreboard. In a blink it was 4-0. With each flash and each increasing number, the roars of the sellout crowd at U.S. Cellular Field grew louder and louder.

As hard as it is to believe, even happy-go-lucky Nick Swisher can get down in the dumps.

One by one they marched into manager Lou Piniella's office before Friday night's game.

The Cubs' goodwill tour of the wild-card world landed at Miller Park on Friday night. The Milwaukee Brewers, playing before a surprisingly pro-Brewers crowd of 44,084 at "Wrigley Field North," got the best of the Cubs 5-1 and took a 1-game lead in the wild-card race over the New York Mets, who lost to Florida.