Zambrano has to work hard to get his victory
It won't go down as a "quality start" per se, but Carlos Zambrano did just enough Friday night.
In some ways, he did more than that, and in others, he did just a little too much as the Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 at Nationals Park for their second straight victory.
Zambrano ran his pitch count to 113 - with 40 coming in the first inning - and lasted 5 innings. But he gave up only an unearned run and qualified for his sixth victory against 4 losses as his ERA fell from 3.53 to 3.36.
It was another pretty good night at the plate for Zambrano. His 2-run double with two outs in the second inning erased a 1-0 deficit and gave him his second game-winning RBI in 2 starts. He homered Sunday to put the Cubs ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for good.
"In the National League, you have to be able to pitch, and you have to be able to contribute to your own cause," Zambrano told reporters. "My job is to pitch, and sometimes I get lucky and get a basehit."
Zambrano's roughest go came in the first. Nyjer Morgan led off with an infield single, and Zambrano walked Nick Johnson. Zambrano looked like he might be out of the inning when Ryan Zimmerman struck out and Morgan was caught stealing at third.
Zambrano wound up walking Adam Dunn intentionally after the count got to 3-0, and the bases became loaded when Ryan Theriot booted Josh Willingham's grounder for an error. Willie Harris walked to force in a run, and Zambrano finally got out of the inning on a nice forceout turned by second baseman Mike Fontenot.
"In the first inning, I was a little shaky," Zambrano said. "My back was also a little tight today, but nothing to worry about. After that I was able to come back and do my job."
The Cubs got the game's other run in the third, when Aramis Ramirez homered with two outs. It was Ramirez's fifth homer of the season but his first since May 6. He dislocated his left shoulder May 8 and spent almost two months on the disabled list.
The Cubs (45-43) got scoreless relief work from Aaron Heilman, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg, who earned his 17th save.
Bruce Miles' game tracker
Not-so-top 40: Starter Carlos Zambrano threw 40 of his 113 pitches in the first inning but allowed only 1 run and got the win. His pitch counts and strikes over his 5 innings: 40/19, 18/11, 12/8, 29/17 and 14/8.
For Micah counter: Left fielder Micah Hoffpauir dived into the stands in foul territory to snag Willie Harris' foul fly to end the third inning.
The Marshall plan: Lefty reliever Sean Marshall pitched 11/3 scoreless innings. In July, he has given up 2 hits and no runs in 62/3 innings. As a reliever, he's 1-2 with a 1.53 ERA. He was 2-4 as a starter this year with a 4.87 ERA.
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