Carlos Zambrano

It has taken a good 21 hours of self pity and a bracing White Sox defeat to clear my head and even let me think about previewing Game Two.

Yes, last night went down harsh, but from reading Rob's post and many of the ensuing comments earlier this afternoon, it is clear that there are still some optimistic souls in Cubdom. All I can say is, God bless you all.

Billingsley pitched twice against the Cubs this season. On both occasions, he matched up with Ryan Dempster. Once, Billingsley threw well (7 K, 2 ER in 6 IP); the other time, he threw not as well. The Cubs won both contests.

Among Cub hitters, only Jim Edmonds has more than 10 career plate appearances against the 23-year-old Billingsley, though Fukudome, Lee, and DeRosa have all tagged him for homers.

Zambrano, meanwhile, Read the rest of this entry>>>

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First, Paul Sullivan writes that despite his recent travails (5.40 ERA in September), Jeff Samardzija has made the post-season roster and that Chad Gaudin will likely be a spectator.

As for today's game, Mark DeRosa (calf strain) was hoping to get in a few swings so he didn't have to go into the playoffs cold. Alas, he is not in the starting lineup. Geovany Soto (sore hand) is also sitting.

The Brewers begin play tied with the Mutts for the Wild Card, with a one-game tiebreaker tomorrow at Shea in the teams' futures if things don't get settled today. (As I post this, the Marlins and Mets are waiting out a rain delay at Shea.)

"It's not going to matter because, well, it is going to matter but it's not going to matter,"

Translated into English, it means that Lou Piniella decided that Carlos Zambrano would not pitch the first inning or two of today's regular season finale at Milwaukee and Angel Guzman will.

Translated into Sullivanese... Read the rest of this entry>>>

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After a lifetime spent listening to ballgames on the radio, I have come to associate certain parks with a certain tone, a certain pitch in the crowd sound. Obviously, my ear is well attuned to the way that Wrigley Field crowds come across on-air. Same with Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park, and the Metrodome. (Loved hearing all those Twins fans Tuesday night!)

Shea Stadium is another one of those parks. Unlike what you hear over the radio from those other parks, however, the crowd sound that goes out over the airwaves from a raucous Shea isn't one of collective joy. It's much more coarse, much more dangerous, a wild, unruly roar—like the sound of inmates rooting on two guys aiming to shank each other in the middle of the yard.

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In his post-game press conference Thursday, a giggly Lou Piniella implied he was planning to go out last night to tie one on in celebration of the spectacular comeback victory. (I believe the exact quote was, "This is going to be a bad night for me.") It's a relief then, looking at today's lineup, to see Lou didn't stumble into the lockerroom still drunk and blindly pencil Koyie Hill into the leadoff spot as his second baseman or give a spot start to Michael Wuertz.

Geovany Soto gets the day off owing to irritation of a joint in his left hand. He is listed as day-to-day.

Our man Zambrano makes his first start since last Sunday's no-no at Milwaukee. I took a look at the last ten National Leaguers to throw complete game no-hitters before Zambrano to see how they fared in their very next outing.

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Well that was kind of awesome...except I walked out right before Derrek Lee's double in the third. So I'll have to relive the glory through those who were witness.

I found out about the no-hitter when I opened my email and one of our readers sent me the parachat screen grab from the end of the game.

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Out of concern for the mental health of the many Cub fans who regularly populate The Cub Reporter, the authors request that, until further notice, visitors please refrain from using the following words or phrases anywhere on or near the site:

• shoulder
• arm
• "dead arm"
• "tired arm"
• strain
• discomfort
• triceps
• fatigued
• disabled
• "skip a turn"
• orthopedist
• Dr. Stephen Gryzlo
• examination
• magnetic
• resonance
• imaging
• "missed appointment"

UPDATE (5:23 PM CST): Zambrano did see Dr. Gryzlo and was suppose to have an MRI today, but missed his appointment. Odd behavior. The MRI has been rescheduled for tomorrow. Sean Marshall will take his next start on Sunday versus the Reds.

Four game losing streak...unfortunate.

Offense struggling a bit...it happens to the best of them.

Carlos Zambrano going to see an orthopedic specialist...holy shit!!

And now Cub fans breathlessly await the results. The season may not hang in the balance but the difference between a dominating playoff rotation versus hopes and prayers does.

If Zambrano has to miss some starts or hit the disabled list for a few weeks, it means Sean Marshall to the rotation. In the short term, that's probably not much of a difference, especially with the way Z has pitched lately. After his last DL trip, Z returned with five starts and a 1.78 ERA before August hit, so maybe a little more rest will do him good. If it ends up being a more serious injury that puts the playoffs in jeopardy, then the Cubs will have to consider starting Jason Marquis in a playoff game and I'll have to consider slitting my wrists.

Bulletin board fodder from Carsten Charles after the jump...

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The Cubs attempt to extend their 8-game road winning streak with Carlos Zambrano trying to recover from a 4-inning+ outing against the Cards last Saturday in which he seemed to be channeling Bob Howry, i.e., allowing a whole big bunch of hits (10), homers (4), and runs (9).

Josh Johnson makes his second start this season against the Cubs. He served up solo home run balls to Geovany Soto and Reed Johnson but little else, a in an ND start on July 25th at Wrigley. (That was the game the Marlins won on a ninth-inning homer by Jeremy Hermida against you-know-who.)

Speaking of that four-game series, which the teams split, that's also the last series the Cubs played and didn't win.

Friday's Game Notes highlight:

The Cubs' seventh and eighth place batters are hitting a combined .301 this season, which is best in MLB. In the series at Turner Field, the #7 and #8 guys went 11-for-25 (.440) with 9 RBI.

And to think—we've expended all that energy this year debating who should hit leadoff.

By the way, no matter what happens the rest of the way, I think the Cubs should definitely go after Michael Phelps as a free agent.

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The Cubs go for the series win and Zambrano goes for lucky win number 13. A win today and the Cubs go 14-3-1 at series in Wrigley and their current 40-15 mark at home is their best start at Wrigley since 1916...which is when Wrigley opened. Some more fun with game notes...

• Cubs center fielders have combined for  a league-leading .368 OBP and the Reed/Edmonds combo at center field has combined to hit .304 with 15 home runs and 65 RBI's.
• The Cubs haven't committed an error in 7 straight games.
• When the Cubs win, they've averaged 7.1 runs per game, when they lose: 2.6.