Zambrano looks much better than Richard
MESA, Ariz. - Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano was around to enjoy a relatively cool day in Arizona a lot longer than his White Sox counterpart.
Zambrano cruised through his first 3 innings, throwing only 28 pitches before enduring a 36-pitch fourth. But at the end of the day, he had worked 6 innings of the Cubs' 9-4 victory. He took the mound in the sixth having thrown 81 pitches, but he polished off the Sox on just 8 to end his day.
"The only bad thing was that in a couple of innings, I had to rush," said Zambrano, who will start Opening Day, April 6, at Houston. "I still had my work done, and thank God everything went good today, and I'm ready for my next outing and ready for the season."
Zambrano likely will back down on the pitch count in next Wednesday's tuneup against Oakland.
Sox starter Clayton Richard lasted just one-third of an inning, as the Cubs sent 11 men to the plate to take a 7-0 lead.
"The first inning was pathetic, bad," said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "He couldn't find the plate, and when he found the plate, he got hit. With the combination of those two things, you're not going to have a good outing. It was the first outing he struggled all spring. We'll see if he can come back and take care of business."
Big Monday: Veteran White Sox pitchers Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon will work Monday's game in Tempe against the Angels. After that, Ozzie Guillen will have a better idea of how his rotation shapes up.
Guillen said he'd like to make some sort of decision about Colon soon after Monday.
"I think so; I don't think we can wait," he said. "I think we (can't set) this ballclub right now because of the decisions we have to make with Colon and Contreras. We have our hands tied up because we don't know what they are going to be able to do."
Congrats, Judd: Judd Sirott, former play-by-play man for the Chicago Wolves hockey team, will join Pat Hughes and Ron Santo in the WGN radio booth this year. Sirott will handle pregame and postgame duties as well as one inning of play-by-play.
Sirott, 39, has been handling pregame and postgame shows as well as intermission work for WGN on Blackhawks games this season. A native of Arlington Heights and a graduate of Buffalo Grove High School, he had called NHL games for HDNet for two years. He replaces Cory Provus, who will be Bob Uecker's sidekick for Milwaukee Brewers games on WTMJ radio.
Roster move: The Cubs outrighted outfielder Brad Snyder to Class AAA Iowa, removing him from the 40-man roster, which stands at 37. The Cubs claimed Snyder off waivers from the Indians last September.