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Cubs put it all together in win

While there’s little hope the Cubs will be anything more than what they are right now the rest of the season, every so often the stars align for them like they did Monday night.

The Cubs got a terrific start from a composed Carlos Zambrano, Starlin Castro drove in 3 runs and Carlos Pena hit a clutch 3-run homer in a 6-3 win over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

“Some of the pieces of the puzzle that we’re looking for, whether it’s Pena’s home run, Castro’s consistency offensively, you go back to starting pitching and that’s how you’re able to put things together,” Cubs manager Mike Quade said.

The last time Zambrano pitched on the South Side a year ago he threw a tantrum in the dugout that led to his suspension from the Cubs. All Zambrano did this time was throw mostly zeros at the White Sox.

After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, Zambrano tossed 7 scoreless innings before giving way to Carlos Marmol in the ninth. Zambrano (6-4) allowed only 4 singles after the first inning and struck out five, including Adam Dunn three times and Paul Konerko twice.

It was Konerko’s 2-run homer in the first that helped put the Cubs in a 3-0 hole, but Zambrano slammed the door the rest of the way.

“There are all kinds of ways a pitcher can go after that and he went the way you’re supposed to go,” Quade said.

“Just be patient,” Zambrano said about what he has learned in the last year, “and let your team do the rest.”

Zambrano’s biggest out came in the fifth inning when he struck out Konerko with two men on and the White Sox still leading 3-2. The strikeout came after Quade went to the mound to talk with Zambrano about pitching carefully to Konerko, or even around one of the hottest hitters in baseball.

“I just wanted to make sure,” Quade said. “We talked about pitching him ultra carefully. I just wanted to reaffirm this is not a challenge at-bat, and you know how Z likes to challenge.”

“A guy as hot as Konerko is, we just didn’t want him to beat us,” Cubs catcher Geovany Soto said. “We just wanted to keep the ball down and Zambrano got the best of him there.”

Zambrano’s 8 strong innings impressed the White Sox.

“He just mixed it up really well,” Konerko said. “You didn’t see too many pitches twice in a row or in the same location. He pitched great. He came out and gave up a couple of runs early and just settled down.

“He got better as he got into the game more — a lot of different types of curve balls and sliders and different speeds of it.”

Castro single-handedly brought the Cubs back with a 2-run single in the third and a solo home run to lead off the sixth.

“He showed today how good he can be,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “He’s got a chance to be a great one.”

But it was Pena’s 3-run homer in the same inning off White Sox starter Gavin Floyd that decided the game.

Floyd (6-7) didn’t retire a better in the sixth before exiting. Blake DeWitt singled following Castro’s homer and Aramis Ramirez walked ahead of Pena’s long blast into the right field seats.

“Even before the sixth inning he seemed to be losing a little bit of command,” Guillen said.

Maybe it’s time to give Konerko some help

Zambrano stays calm and gets a win

Castro can be that good

Guillen stays focused on the here and now

Images: Sox vs. Cubs, game one

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