Big Z Does It All For His 100th Career Win

We all know that Carlos Zambrano is quite the baseball player when he plays. Recently Z has been dealing with a sore hamstring that put him on the DL and then a six game suspension for yelling at the umpire. Hopefully that is done and we get down to business the rest of the season. 

Tonight was certainly a great way to start the rest of the season for Z. He got his 100th career win all by himself, pitching 6 2/3 shutout innings and hitting the game winning home run. Cubs win 2-1. Z was a bit wild which made his pitch count a little higher than it could have been, but he struck out seven and made a couple nice plays on defense. Angel Guzman finished the seventh, Carlos Marmol gave up a run in the eighth before getting Jay Bruce to end a big jam.

The ninth was not without some serious drama, Kevin Gregg tried to come in and end the game quickly, but a walk and another dropped third strike brought Chris Dickerson to the plate with a chance to tie the game. Lucky for everybody on the Cubs side Dickerson popped out to third to end the game, and Gregg really wasn't at fault tonight.

The issue continues to be the Cubs offense. In the first inning we had bases loaded and one out, there was only one run scored and that was on a walk from Koyie Hill. Simply put there needs to be hitting in that situation, not walks, hits. Part of the problem is that Soto cannot play due to being fat, and with Aramis out the bottom of the order includes Andres Blanco (who should play because of his defense) along with Koyie Hill, we can't count on those two to drive runs in. Perhaps when Aramis comes back the bottom of the order will become more productive.

Still this is a pretty happy night. Big Z was the star, which was nice because he has been taking a lot of heat from the media this week. This should keep Z away from scrutiny until his next start.

Tomorrow Dumpster faces a pitcher making his major league debut. It sure would be nice if the Cubs could greet him with six or seven runs.