Game One Hundred Forty-Seven - Cubs 5 Astros 0
WP - Carlos Zambrano (14-5) LP - Randy Wolf (10-12) Save - None
In a season that has been full of special moments, Carlos Zambrano not only made a statement on Sunday night at Miller Park but pitched the Cubs' first no hitter since Milt Pappas in September of 1972 against the San Diego Padres. Other than possibly the Kerry Wood 20-strikeout game more than 10 years ago, the single most dominant performance this writer has ever seen. Not only did Zambrano toss a no hitter; he faced only one over the minimum with just two balls leaving the infield.
Carlos Zambrano had pinpoint control for the first time since he pitched in Milwaukee at the end of July and when he missed, it was not by much. Zambrano struck out 10, walked a batter and hit a batter on 110 pitches. Zambrano joined Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox as the only two pitchers to throw a no hitter this season.
Carlos Zambrano struck out Darin Erstad for the 27th out of the game and was mobbed by his teammates on the mound. Zambrano found his catcher, Geovany Soto, and embraced the rookie that called the no hitter. It was truly an amazing performance by a pitcher that wears his emotions on his sleeve. For all of his struggles over the past six weeks, Zambrano made history in his first outing since September 2nd....Zambrano's no hitter is the first in the history of Major League Baseball at a neutral site..
Derrek Lee came through with the biggest hit of the night for the Cubs. Alfonso Soriano led off the game with his 28th home run of the season but the Cubs struggles with runners in scoring position of late have been more than concerning. Ronny Cedeno and Carlos Zambrano reached on back-to-back singles to start the 3rd inning. Two outs later and with a 0-2 count, Derrek Lee doubled off the base of the wall in right center. Cedeno and Zambrano scored then Aramis Ramirez lined a hard single off the wall in left. Lee scored and Ramirez advanced to 2nd on a throwing error by Miguel Tejada. Geovany Soto followed with a double to right that plated Ramirez and chased Randy Wolf from the game.
All 4 runs scored in the 3rd inning came with 2 outs.
Sunday night was all about Carlos Zambrano, and rightfully so. With the victory the Cubs improved to 31 games over .500 on the season and increased their lead in the division to 7 1/2 games, 9 in the loss column....the Cubs have won their last three in a row.
What a special night. Carlos Zambrano became the 10th Cubs pitcher since 1880 to throw a no hitter (the 7th since 1900) after coming close on many occasions. Zambrano hit the mid to upper 90's on his fastball and as mentioned displayed pinpoint control. The walk he issued to Michael Bourn could have been a strikeout, all 4 balls were that close.
Carlos Zambrano's no-no was the first in the history of Miller Park and the first in the NL since Anibal Sanchez pitched a no hitter for the Marlins in 2006.
Lou Piniella mentioned in his post game that they had discussed a 90-pitch limit for Zambrano and he exceeded it by only 20. Zambrano and Geovany Soto mixed his pitches well. Piniella called it a masterpiece and said it was just a great game for his team and especially Zambrano.
Simply a great night for Carlos Zambrano and the Chicago Cubs....and hopefully one that both the team and Zambrano can build on for the remainder of the season.
Link to Video Page on ESPN.com
Milt Pappas on the Carlos Zambrano No-Hitter
Link to Complete List of No-Hitters thrown by the Chicago National League Ball Club since 1880.
Steve Phillips on Zambrano's No-Hitter
The good performance by the Cubs offense, especially against a pitcher that had just tossed a complete game shutout against them less than 2 weeks ago, will be lost in the dominance and history made by Carlos Zambrano. The offense did their job, chased Randy Wolf and turned the game over to Big Z.
Ted Lilly is scheduled to face Brian Moehler on Monday afternoon in the second game of the series.
The best part was that I WAS THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHOHOOO!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!GO CUBS GO, GO CUBS GO.
Happy to say I was too...Big Z looked like he was back from the start of the game. It will be very good if he can maintain his velocity and form through the end of the year
Sto's got some tough luck in losing two games of their huge home series but they are hardly done.
Like me, If you were glued to the TV and missed Pat and Ron...I found this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMQPC2tb4Zg
It's Pat and Ron's bottom of the 9th
Destiny....I believe that is what we are witnessing...As I (and others) stated when we got the extra days off because of the hurricane....it would be a blessing.
What a blessing it turned out to be.
The no-hitter just lit this team back on fire heading into the most important time of the season.
The division is all but ours with a 7 1/2 game lead. Most importantly our ace just showed everyone there should be NO doubt about his arm. Not only is this important for other teams to know....but also for Big Z himself!! I think that more than anything else is the best part. Zambrano now has all the confidence in the world and we need that heading into playoffs.
With Z healthy, Harden healthy and Dempster....we have the strongest 3 of any team!! With how Lilly and Marquis have come through when needed....I am VERY excited for October to come!!!
Unfortunately the October memory that sticks out the most for me is Ocotber 6, 1984 my 14th birthday when Steve f'in Garvey hit that homerun. It's time for a new October memory for me!!!
Cool video from a fan in the stand when the no hitter happened......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw19z6_LvZ0
Here's Pat and Ron's call of the entire 9th inning....WITH WGN TV video to go with it.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Rj3HtPgh0
There's a very good chance that finally we can clinch the division at home instead of the road..... In 84 we clinched in Pittsburgh with Big Sutcliffe and In 89 we clinched in Montreal with Wild Thing getting the save... but with 6 games coming up at home...and 3 of them against the Brewers...there's a good chance the drama will unfold at Wrigleyville for a change!!!
i would love to drink the kool aid of excitement but i will wait five days until i see big z get back out there. 110 pitches and nine hard innings of pitching is not too hard on a healthy pitcher but z is a little fragile these days. i hope they give him at the least an extra days rest. i was pumped about the no hittter but i am wanting to end the drought and big z is the garden hose that will do it. we neeed him and harden healthy and we will do some damage in oct......
These two games should not have been played because Astro players did not have baseball on their mind playing against Cubs. I understand how they felted about their family in Houston. Cub fans should tried to set a donation to help out people in Houston who are living without power and helped them rebuilt their city,again. Houston and Chicago people had gone out of their way to help other people in other city in the past from disaster.
Carole, there is a for Cubs fans to donate to the relief help.
http://blogs.trb.com/sports/custom/weblog/wgnsports/
From WGN:
The Cubs and the McCormick Foundation have established a relief fund for victims of Hurricane Ike. You can call 866.242.5006 or log on to www.mcormickfoundation.org to contribute. The Foundation is matching the first $2 million in donations at 50 cents for each dollar contributed.