11 games left (up by one on the Brewers)

So much for the magic blue bracelet...



Zambrano was pitching on three days rest per Lou Pinella but that wasn't the problem. The problem was Aaron Harang, the most underrated ace on a pitching staff beating Zambrano for the fourth time this season.


The game started with sloppy play from the first batter. Zambrano pitches nine pitches to the first batter and Hopper eventually singles to right field. On the second pitch to Keppinger (number two batter) he drills him in the hip. The Redlegs now have two men on and nobody out. This is where I don't understand Zambrano. Any one of the other Cubs pitchers would play it cool knowing that they have just signed a $91.5 million dollar contract. This is what happens to pitchers and instead pitching himself out of a jam, he panics, takes extra walks around the mound, etc. Cubs fans love him but he's a flipping headcase.

Zambrano is 2-4 since signing the big deal and this was the first time he pitched in home territory since going off on the fans after getting booed to one of his August pitching treats. Jim Hendry and Lou Pinella got involved and the next day it was damage control with a bunch of apoligizing. I will give it to Zambrano for keeping his mound-temper in check but he did just clock our ex-catcher in June giving the new San Diego Padre multiple stitches in his mouth after the dust settled. The bottom line is this, Zambrano is a head case plain and simple. I don't know if it's because he's from another country, his age, his ego....pitching on the mound during a pennant race in Wrigley Field has to be pretty darn mind boggling. Our fans want to win, plain and simple. We constantly pack the baseball mecca, paying a tremendous amount of cash for any type of vending, and the Cubs spent over $300 million dollars in the off season to cast away the dreaded 'lovable losers' stigma. We lost this game to a bunch of bat rats. These guys know how to hit and if they didn't have old man Griffey and strike out king Adam Dunn in their lineup, they'd probably do something instead of being the possible cellar dwellers of the NL Central. I'm Clay Koenig and Cubs and Brewers are now virtually tied in the NL Central.