As many followers of the NL Central already know, the Houston Astros best pitcher isn't Roy Oswalt, at least not so far this season. Wandy Rodriguez has been absolutely unreal in 2009, and it is pretty sad that he wasn't a member of the NL All-Star squad. He comes in with the 5th best ERA in the NL at 2.72 and has walked fewer and struck out more than Matt Cain (12-2, 2.27). Random comparison but it shows that this guy belongs at the top of the list of elite NL starters in 2009.This matchup is a redux of June 10th in Houston when Z threw 8 innings of one run ball, but was matched toe to toe by Rodriguez and the Cubs ended up losing on a walk off single by Geoff Blum. In 13 innings this season the Cubs have scored 2 runs off of him, one on a Geo Soto home run and the other on a D-Lee RBI single.
However, one thing the Cubs do have going for them tonight against Wandy is that he has been historically pretty bad at Wrigley. In 24 innings pitched at Wrigley, Rodriguez has a 8.25 ERA and has given up 36 hits. As Justin wrote earlier, this is a big chance for the Cubs to build on what the Mets did to Houston the past two days and keep cooling them down.
Photo courtesy metstoday.com.
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