Filed under: Cubs, NL Central, MLB Milestones
When they rescheduled two games of the Astros/Cubs series for Milwaukee, there was some grumbling that those games would be much more like home games for the visiting Cubs than the temporarily displaced Astros. That's a big deal with the Astros in the heat of a wild-card race and the Cubs having the NL Central all but locked up. Apparently, it was a huge deal because the weary Astros were just no-hit by Carlos Zambrano in front of a very Cub-friendly crowd at Miller Park.
It's certainly a sign that Zambrano's over his apparent shoulder problems that made go 12 days between starts. Tonight he only allowed two base runners, a walk to Michael Bourn in the fourth and a HBP to Hunter Pence in the fifth, en route to his ten strikeout masterpiece. The final out was a flailing strikeout of Darin Erstad quickly followed by a huge celebration on the mound with his teammates.
Perhaps most importantly, the 5-0 win gives the Cubs a seven game lead in the NL Central with 15 games to go. If you're counting at home, that's a magic number of eight. All of the worries about Zambrano's health are out the window and he only took 110 pitches to get through his no-no tonight. With the Brewers collapsing, is there anyone that wants to see this Cub team in the playoffs?
