Carlos Zambrano, baseball’s version of a simmering volcano with a documented history of frequent eruptions, was on his best behavior at U.S. Cellular Field Monday night.
Teammates Starlin Castro and Carlos Pena provided the drama, with Ozzie Guillen in a supporting role.
After being rocked for three runs in the first inning, Zambrano regrouped and held the White Sox scoreless over the next seven. Castro drove in three runs, one with a game-tying homer in the sixth. Pena followed with a three-run blast off Gavin Floyd that gave the Cubs a 6-3 victory in the opener of the City Series on a postcard-perfect baseball evening before 36,005 fans.
“Good for ‘Z,’ “ Cubs manager Mike Quade said. “There are any number of ways a pitcher can go after starting out like that, but he went the way you’re supposed to go and did a terrific job.”
Whether he’s breaking a bat over his thigh, berating a teammate in the dugout, assailing the Cubs’ Triple-A level of play or chatting up a TV reporter mid-game, Zambrano loves being the center of attention. So Monday’s setting was right in his wheelhouse: Big crowd (though a bit less than a sellout), big media presence and big stakes, at least in terms of bragging rights for each team’s fans.
“Security people might disagree, but it felt like a regular ballgame with more people in the stands,” Guillen said.
The Sox manager was not around for the finish, having been chased in the sixth inning after a brief but heated argument over a foul ball call at home plate.
Zambrano was returning to the scene of the crime, as it were: During a series-opening Cubs-Sox game at the Cell last June, he went ballistic in the dugout over a fielding play that wasn’t made in a four-run first inning, an infantile tantrum that cost him a suspension and prompted the Cubs to order him into anger-management therapy.
“He’s been pretty good since he’s been back,” Quade said before the game, citing Zambrano’s 13-4 record since August. “I expect he’ll take the ball, compete and pitch well.”
Not right away—Zambrano trailed 3-0 after facing four batters. After Carlos Quentin singled home Juan Pierre in the bottom of the first, Paul Konerko turned on a Zambrano fastball and deposited it in the White Sox bullpen.
“Z got a little too aggressive with a really good hitter,” Quade said, and Zambrano did not disagree.
“Konerko hit a good pitch—he’s a good fastball hitter and he’s locked in right now,” he said. “But I was feeling good tonight. I said, ‘That’s enough, this is my game. Let’s be aggressive but stay in control.’ I was able to do that.”
The homer was Konerko’s fourth in four games and his 20th of the season. He’s hitting .327 with 58 RBIs, and he’ll be on the short list of American League MVP candidates if he keeps going.
Moreover, Konerko is the polar opposite of the combustible Zambrano—he’s a pro’s pro known for his even-keel disposition. But Big Z turned the tables on him in the fifth, striking out Konerko to end the inning with two runners on base after Quade visited the mound.
“I just wanted to remind him that we were being ultra-careful,” he said. “We all know Z likes to challenge people, but that was not a challenge at-bat.”
Zambrano got Konerko on strikes again with the bases empty and one out in the eighth. In fact, the Volatile One was steady as she goes after Konerko’s homer, working eight sturdy innings on a yield of seven hits, with just four singles after the first inning. Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless ninth, surviving two two-strike singles and a warning-track fly ball as the Cubs’ overextended bullpen got a much-needed breather.
Sox starter Floyd was not as efficient. Castro reached him for a two-run single in the third, then tied the game with a laser-beam homer to left-center (his second of the season) in the sixth.
Floyd (6-7) unraveled badly after that. Blake DeWitt singled, Aramis Ramirez walked and Pena scored both of them with a soaring drive that easily reached the seats in right-center field.
“That was fun, but Zambrano was the story tonight,” Pena said. “He gave us just what we needed.”
A.J. Pierzynski had three hits for the Sox, but Adam Dunn’s struggles continued—the boos were loud and nasty after three strikeouts and a fly ball dropped Dunn’s average to .178.
Guillen had a rough night as well. He went all Zambrano on James Hoye in the bottom of the sixth after the home-plate umpire called Alexei Ramirez out on a nubber that appeared to bounce foul before Cubs catcher Geovany Soto grabbed it and tagged Ramirez. Guillen must have said a magic word in his opening statement—his second ejection of the season was probably the quickest of the 27 he has experienced as a big league skipper. He underscored his unhappiness by kicking Soto’s mask as he was leaving.
“The umpire got it right and I got it wrong,” Guillen said later. “I don’t want to pay any more [fine] money.”