Game One Hundred Nine: Cubs (45-63) vs. Pirates (41-68)
Game Time – 12:05pm C.T. WGN TV, WGN Radio, XM Radio Channel 186
Location – Wrigley Field, Chicago
Carlos Zambrano (12-3, 3.26) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (1-2, 5.84)
The National League Pitcher of the Month for July, Carlos Zambrano takes the hill today for the Cubs in search of his 10th victory in a row. He will face a Pirates team with a much different look than the last one he faced but a team that has won their last 6 out of 10 games. Zambrano has not faced the Pirates this season and on the year the Cubs are 3-2 against the Bucs. Zambrano is a legitimate Cy Young award candidate and is in a zone right now. Zambrano used to get visibly shaken when a team would hit a home run or score a run off of him, now he just bares down and gets the job done….Big Z is maturing before our eyes. Zambrano is coming off a perfect month and the last time he lost a game was May 31st in Cincinnati. Since his horrible start he has been lights out and is 12-1 with a 2.66 ERA.
Tom Gorzelanny, say that three times fast, is the Pirates top-pitching prospect and is coming off his first big league win. The rookie left-hander was terrific against the Giants allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits in 7 innings of work….his longest outing of his career. Like a lot of rookies, Gorzelanny has trouble throwing strikes and the Cubs must make him work and not allow him to get comfortable on the mound. The Giants were very aggressive against Gorzelanny and it cost them the game….hopefully the Cubs will not fall victim to the same temptations.
Let’s Talk Cubbies Baseball….