Zambrano brings it for 8 strong innings
CINCINNATI -- Ten years ago Tuesday, the Cubs got a dominant pitching performance the likes of which they haven't seen since.
On that day, Kerry Wood struck out 20 Houston Astros.
The guy who pitched Tuesday night wasn't that good, but he wasn't half-bad.
Carlos Zambrano worked 8 innings of scoreless 3-hit ball as he ran his record to 5-1 in a 3-0 Cubs victory over the Reds.
The victory was an important one for the Cubs, who snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 19-14.
"Every team passes through some slump," said Zambrano, who lowered his ERA from 2.11 to 1.80. "That's normal. Right now we are doing the right thing, but we kind of like slowed down. But I know this team can put everything together.
"The most important thing was the first month, and we did a good job in the first month."
Of Zambrano's 8 starts this year, 7 have been of the "quality" variety: at least 6 innings pitched and no more than 3 earned runs allowed.
He looked to be an unlikely candidate to go 8 innings Tuesday, as he threw 24 pitches in the second inning, when he picked Joey Votto off second base with men on first and second.
He threw 20 in the third, raising his early pitch count to 57. But over his last 3 innings, he threw only 10, 6, 8 pitches, respectively.
"The more that the game is gone and the more adrenaline I feel in my body, the more that I know I have to save the bullpen and throw my best pitches, that helps me," he said.
Manager Lou Piniella toyed with allowing Zambrano to finish, but the 113 pitches he had after 8 innings were enough.
"He really threw the ball well, Zambrano did," Piniella said. "To finish that ballgame, we'd have got him up into the 130-range, and we didn't want that this early in the season."
Aramis Ramirez, playing his first game since Friday, singled home a run in the first inning. Ronny Cedeno, getting a rare start at second base, took an outside slider from Aaron Harang (1-5) in the fourth and punched it into right for a 2-run single.
"Yeah, I think I can play a little bit," Cedeno said. "He (Piniella) makes the lineup, so I don't have control with that. If he puts me in the lineup, I'll be ready for him."
Oh, and about that guy Kerry Wood. He pitched the ninth inning in his new role as closer and earned his fifth save in 8 chances.
Wood struck out the final two batters, including Edwin Encarnacion for the second out on a nasty backup slider.
"I threw it more yesterday," Wood said. "I kind of changed up my grip and found something that was comfortable. I feel like I can control it better than I did coming out of spring."
Wood finished by striking out Adam Dunn swinging.
That made for a happy anniversary.
"I answered more questions about it in the last three or four days than I did probably in the week after it happened," Wood said with a smile. "But it's nice to remember it and talk about it every now and then."
Cubs 3, Reds 0
At the plate: Ronny Cedeno hit a 2-run single in the fourth inning. Aramis Ramirez had an RBI single in the first. After going hitless in his first 3 at-bats, Alfonso Soriano singled and doubled. Geovany Soto extended his hitting streak to eight games, but his streak of seven games with an extra-base hit ended.
On the mound: Carlos Zambrano turned in the longest start by a Cubs pitcher this year, going 8 scoreless innings. He walked three and struck out three, throwing 113 pitches, 69 for strikes. Kerry Wood allowed 1 hit in the ninth and earned his fifth save.
-- Bruce Miles