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Zambrano stays calm and gets a win

Go ahead and admit it. You were waiting, weren’t you?

You were waiting for Carlos Zambrano to lose it after the first inning, just as he did last year at U.S. Cellular Field.

Not this time. Different year. Maybe a different Carlos Zambrano. Well, not completely different.

Anyway, Monday night’s first inning didn’t go so hot for Zambrano, just as it didn’t last June here at the Cell. Juan Pierre led off with a single. After Omar Vizquel grounded out off Zambrano’s glove, Carlos Quentin hit a squibber into right field for an RBI single.

Paul Konerko followed with a 2-run homer, and just like that, the White Sox had a 3-0 lead.

Uh-oh.

But instead of melting down, Big Z iced the White Sox the rest of the way as his teammates came back for a 6-3 victory. Three starts earlier, Zambrano blasted his team as being “Triple-A” and then followed it with 2 bad starts.

But Monday night, Zambrano exhibited a nice measure of self-control coupled with patience.

“People change,” said Zambrano, who improved to 6-4 with an 8-inning performance. “Have you ever seen the movie ‘Rocky’ after he fights in, I think, Russia? He said it good. It’s not late for people to change. Over the years, you make a mistake because you’re human. I’m human …

“The most important thing is to relax after you make a mistake and apologize and be a better person, be a better teammate, be a better player with what you do on the field. That is what I want to do this year: Focus on baseball and let everything else go away.”

A year ago in this ballpark, Zambrano went on a dugout tirade after the first inning of his start and wound up in anger-management treatment.

On Monday, he pulled himself together and looked like the model of deportment.

“After that, I was feeling so good that I said, ‘This is my game,’ and that’s enough,” he said.

Zambrano stranded two runners in the fifth, striking out Konerko to end the inning after a visit from manager Mike Quade.

“I just wanted to make sure,” Quade said. “We talked about pitching him ultra careful. If he wants to go off the plate and go places we want to go, we’ll take our chances with him.

“But we’re not giving an inch in certain situations, and that was one of them.”

Quade also gave all the credit to Zambrano for keeping cool.

“So much was made of his emotional stuff,” Quade said. “He was relaxed. He felt good, and he handled himself great and then really went to work. That’s what you need, and good for him.

“He did a (heck) of a job. There’s been a lot of stuff said about him, and we’ve talked a lot about it. He deserves so much credit tonight.”

Zambrano got help in a 4-run sixth inning from a leadoff homer by Starlin Castro and a 3-run blast by Carlos Pena.

“I think the real story here was how Zambrano was able to settle down,” Pena said. “Even after the first couple runs that were scored off of him, he was able to stay focused and just kept on pounding. It was quite impressive how he kept himself focused on going pitch to pitch.

“I told him early in the game, ‘Just stay right there. We’re going to get you some runs.’ Sure enough, we were able to do so. What a wonderful performance by Z.”

ŸFollow Bruce’s Cubs reports via Twitter@BruceMiles2112, and join the conversation on his Chicago’s Inside Pitch blog at dailyherald.com.

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