The Chicago Cubs have fired hitting coach Von Joshua four months after he replaced Gerald Perry, team officials said. He didn't do anything wrong, General Manager Jim Hendry said.

Kyle Blanks had an inside-the-park home run for the San Diego Padres Tuesday in their 6-3 win over the struggling Chicago Cubs. Adrian Gonzalez also homered for the Padres and Kevin Kouzmanoff notched two RBI. Cesar Carrillo (1-1) picked up the win in his second major league start, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings.

Light-hitting Jeff Baker drove in two runs Saturday, sending the Chicago Cubs to a 5-2 win over the St.

Derrek Lee drove in a career-high seven runs Thursday with two of Chicago's four home runs, boosting the Cubs to a 9-5 decision over Milwaukee. The explosion of long balls came in the opener of a key series, in which the Cubs hope to make a big gain in the National League Central race.

Pinch-hitter Micah Hoffpauir singled in Derrek Lee from third with one out in the 11th inning Wednesday, giving the Chicago Cubs a 3-2 win over Atlanta. The Braves rallied from a two-run deficit to tie the game in the seventh, but the Cubs finally broke through against Jeff Bennett and Eric O'Flaherty in the 11th. Lee opened the inning by drawing a walk off Bennett (2-3) and moved to second on Mike Fontenot's fly ball to left that was caught in foul territory. Reed Johnson then singled, with Lee holding at third.