Sox flip Zambrano's switch, come away with 6-0 win

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen loves virtually everything about Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano.

Loves the way his fellow Venezuelan competes. Loves the combination of his toughness and his temper, which he considers "stupid crazy" when Zambrano does things like break bats over his upper leg.

He even loves that Zambrano punched then-teammate Michael Barrett during an in-game dust-up in 2007.

"We need that, more fighting in baseball," Guillen said before Sunday's game. "Players fighting with each other."

Guillen's multilingual tongue might have been planted in cheek then, but not when he outlined the way the White Sox dealt Zambrano and the Cubs a 6-0 defeat on a sunny and windy Sunday before an agitated sellout crowd of 39,745 at U.S. Cellular Field.

John Danks scattered 4 hits over 7 innings while Alexei Ramirez and Jermaine Dye cracked homers to give the Sox a 3-2 lead in the season series with one makeup game left in September.

"To beat Carlos, whoever gets on base you've got to try to move around," Guillen said. "Because if you're going to wait for the big inning, it's not going to happen because he's so good."

In other words, you must do things that flip Zambrano's switch from splendid to stupid-crazy.

Sure enough, the Sox did enough running, bunting and squeezing on Sunday to push Zambrano to the edge. His inning on the brink came in the sixth when the verdict remained in doubt.

After the Cubs left the bases loaded in the top half - ruining a golden chance to slash into a 3-0 deficit - the Sox attacked from all angles to score two crucial runs.

Chris Getz led off with a bloop double. Gordon Beckham sacrificed him to third. Then, on a 0-1 pitch to lefty-hitting Dewayne Wise, Getz started racing down the line on a suicide squeeze.

Zambrano and catcher Geovany Soto saw the play unfurl and Soto shifted to his left to catch a pitchout.

There was just one problem: Zambrano fired so wildly that his pitch went well beyond Soto's reach to the backstop. Getz, who was credited with a steal of home, scored easily when he should have been out with ease.

When the frustrated Zambrano drilled Wise in the derrière with his next pitch, nobody seemed confused by its intent except the author.

"It was a cutter that cut too much," Zambrano claimed.

"I'm just glad he kept the ball down," Wise said.

Players in both dugouts streamed onto the grass as Wise shared some advice and Zambrano advanced toward him to hear it.

But before a brawl could break out, the base umpires stopped the teams from crossing the foul lines while home-plate umpire Brian Runge wrangled Zambrano back to the mound.

"The umpire was good because I was starting to get a little hyper," Zambrano said.

Or, perhaps, stupid-crazy?

Meanwhile at the other end of the pitching spectrum, Danks (6-6) negotiated his way out of jams in the first, second and sixth to register his fourth consecutive quality start. In his two starts against the Cubs, Danks picked up 2 wins while surrendering just 1 run in 14 innings.

"I didn't throw as many strikes this time around," Danks said, "but I feel like I was still able to make the big pitch when I had to and guys were making plays all over the field for me. That play Alexei made in the sixth was huge."

"That play" was a diving grab in the hole that shortstop Alexei Ramirez turned into a bang-bang forceout at third to end the Cubs' bases-loaded threat in the sixth.

After the Sox improved their lead to 5-0 in the sixth, much of the focus shifted from the field to the bleachers.

Each half-inning the rest of the way, security guards had to break up disputes and drag fans to the exits as the combination of sunshine and suds turned some fans stupid-crazy.

Maybe it's a good thing the Sox (37-38) and Cubs (35-37) both hit the road as they resume their quests for .500. Though they'll be the visitors in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, respectively, it might feel like a vacation after a crazy weekend at The Cell.

"We're going to have to shore up some areas," said Piniella, who watched his team bat 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and display some less-than-stellar fielding.

"We've started playing better," Dye said, "but we're still not lights out by any means."

<p class="factboxheadblack">Scot Gregor's Sox game tracker</p> <p class="News"><b>Back to business:</b> After hearing it from manager Ozzie Guillen and the home crowd during the past homestand, Alexei Ramirez played a great all-around game Sunday. He was 3-for-5 and made a highlight play at shortstop in the sixth inning.</p> <p class="News"><b>More power:</b> Alexei Ramirez and Jermaine Dye went deep, giving the Sox home runs in six straight games. They have 24 HR in their last 13 games.</p> <p class="News"><b>Feeling comfortable:</b> In 2 starts against the Cubs this season, White Sox starter John Danks pitched 14 innings and allowed just 1 earned run.</p> <p class="News"><b>On the run:</b> Chris Getz stole home in the sixth, the first time the Sox have done that since Pablo Orzuna on Sept. 8, 2005.</p> <p class="factboxheadblack">Bruce Miles' Cubs game tracker</p> <p class="News"><b>Sunday's grade:</b> F. Not only did the Cubs manage just 4 hits, they were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. They committed 1 fielding error and looked sloppy as a whole.</p> <p class="News"><b>Not today:</b> Carlos Zambrano suffered his first loss since May 22. He lasted 51/3 innings, failing to go 7 for the first time in 4 starts.</p> <p class="News"><b>Perhaps a start:</b> Alfonso Soriano had 2 of the Cubs' 4 hits. He has 4 multihit efforts in his last five games, going 8-for-21.</p> <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=303476">For Cubs, explaining what went wrong is a long list <span class="date">[6/28/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=303477">Momentum fleeting for Cubs <span class="date">[6/28/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=303474">Sox were busy on the basepaths<span class="date">[6/28/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=303485">Big day by Ramirez gives Guillen e-mail material <span class="date">[6/28/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=303479">Imrem: Shaky Cubs get rattled and rolled <span class="date">[6/28/09]</span></a></li> </ul> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=303461">Photos from Game 3 </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>