Cubs give Padres best shot in 1-0 victory
After letting the kids out to play a little bit over the weekend, Cubs manager Mike Quade went with more of a veteran look Monday night at San Diego.
The Padres are battling with the Giants for first place in the National League West, and they're also trying to keep their wild-card hopes alive.
So Quade is going with what he thinks is his best. With his veterans on the field, Quade's Cubs beat San Diego 1-0 and pushed the Padres a game back in the NL West.
"We're going to play the (veterans)," Quade told reporters at Petco Park. "They have all had plenty of rest, and we're going to try to play them as much as possible in these four games in order to be as representative as we can."
The Cubs also had to be glad to get back on the road. They finished their home season Sunday with a record of 35-46. Under Quade, they were 12-3 on the road entering Monday.
"I didn't realize there was a (disparity)," Quade said. "I always chalk that up to coincidence unless it's so ridiculous. I'm just glad that we've played well here of late, whether it's been home or on the road or whatever."
Carlos Zambrano took the mound for the Cubs on Monday, having a 6-0 record with a 1.42 ERA in 9 starts since returning to the rotation last month.
He hooked up in a duel with San Diego's Tim Stauffer as both teams had a hard time getting anything going.
The Cubs had runners on first and second with one out in the fourth, but Xavier Nady grounded into a double play. The bottom of the order had things going in the sixth, with No. 7 hitter Blake DeWitt singling and Zambrano walking. That inning ended with Kosuke Fukudome grounding into a forceout.
Zambrano stranded a pair of runners in the first inning but faced little trouble in the early and middle innings.
The Cubs finally broke through in the seventh. With one out, Alfonso Soriano doubled to the left-field corner. Witt, who blooped a single in his previous at-bat, followed with an RBI single to center.
Zambrano worked out of a jam of his own making in the bottom of the inning, when 13 of the 17 pitches he threw were balls. He walked Matt Stairs leading off the inning. After Yorvit Torrealba grounded out, Zambrano walked Chase Headley before getting Tony Gwynn Jr. to flyout and pitch hitter Oscar Salazar to pop out foul.
<p class="factboxheadblack">Bruce Miles' game tracker</p>
<p class="News">Cubs 1, Padres 0</p>
<p class="News"><b>He's back:</b> Center fielder Marlon Byrd returned to the lineup after missing Saturday's and Sunday's games with a bruise under his right eye. Byrd singled in each of his first 2 at-bats and doubled in the eighth inning. It was Byrd's 39th double. </p>
<p class="News"><b>Another good one:</b> Starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano continued his run of good starts, working 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball. He lowered his season ERA to 3.36. It was the Cubs' 90th quality start. The starters' ERA in those games is 2.08. </p>
<p class="News"><b>Z at the bat</b>: Zambrano, who likes to swing the bat, walked in the fifth inning. It was Zambrano's first walk of the year. </p>