Cubs 16-8 (1st)
Nationals 8-17, -6.5 (5th)
POTG: SP Z!!!! (7 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 K, QS [5], W [4/86])
Runner Up: CF Reed Johnson (2 H, 2 R), SS Ryan Theriot (2 R, 2 H, BB, SB), 3B A Ram (2 2B, 2 RBI, BB), LF DeRosa (2 H, 2 RBI), 2B Cedeno (3 H, 2 2 B), 1B D Lee (2 H, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB),
CARLOS ZAMBRANO. Five great starts out of six changes. The walks are up, the strikeouts are down, but the effectiveness is so there. The Cubs didn’t even need Z! to be Z! today – Matt Chico is a bad pitcher and everyone should know it – but he decided he was going to crush the Nationals and so he did. The only part of his game not looking good is the hitting, and I’m sure that angers him deeply. I expect him to be breaking down film and analyzing his swing for the next four days.
No offense to Rich Hill, but it is nice that the juggled rotation means Z vs the Brewers. That’ll be fun.
Nice cameos by the good Michael Wuertz and the usual Jon Lieber. Hitters were good even if no one had a huge day. Lee was on four times, which is pretty good if he doesn’t wipe himself out one of those times.