Chicago @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 19, 2010 ) San Diego 5, Chi. Cubs 3
The hottest pitcher in baseball will try to put a crimp into the San Diego Padres’ playoff plans.
Carlos Zambrano takes the mound at Petco Park on Monday as the Chicago Cubs open a four-game series with the Padres, who are battling for a playoff position.
The Padres (87-68) enter the series a half-game behind the San Francisco Giants (88-68) in the NL West and a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Braves for the wild card. The Colorado Rockies (83-72) have fallen 4 1/2 games back in the NL West.
San Diego got pounded, 12-2, by the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, but have won four of its last six overall and swept a four-game series at Wrigley Field against the Cubs in August.
Adrian Gonzalez reached the 30-homer plateau for the fourth straight season with a blast against Cincinnati.
Having to face the rejuvenated Zambrano (9-6, 3.56 ERA) will be a challenge. Since returning from his suspension for unprofessional conduct, Zambrano has gone 6-0 with a 1.42 ERA, tying for the third longest winning streak in his career.
He also has allowed two runs or fewer in all nine starts – tying Steve Trout in 1984 and Bill Lee in 1938 for the longest such streaks in Cubs' lore since 1920. It's also the third longest streak in the majors this year. Big Z won nine straight decisions in 2006, seven straight in 2008 and six consecutive in 2004 and 2005.
Despite a horrendous start – 3-6, 5.66 ERA at the time of his suspension in late June – the 29-year-old Venezuelan has his lowest ERA since the 2006 campaign.
He will have two chances left to return to the 10-win club in which he was a member six straight years until winning just nine times in 2009. Zambrano also needs two more strikeouts to move into second place on the Cubs’ all-time list.
After winning five consecutive starts, Big Z tossed six scoreless frames in his last appearance against the Giants last Tuesday. He was not involved in the decision, a 1-0 defeat.
In his lone appearance against San Diego this season, the right-hander received a no-decision in the Padres' 5-3 win on Aug. 19. He allowed a run and four hits in six frames.
Zambrano is 6-2, 2.11 ERA in 11 starts lifetime against San Diego and 2-1, 2.28 ERA in four career starts here. He will have to be careful with San Diego outfielder Ryan Ludwick, who is 7-for-16 with a pair of homers against him all-time.
The Padres will counter with Tim Stauffer, who has just 13 career victories despite being one year younger than his Monday counterpart.
The 28-year-old Stauffer is coming off a big victory, 3-1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday in which he yielded just a run and three hits in six frames in his fifth start of the campaign.
Stauffer has made 25 relief appearances this season but is 2-1, 2.57 ERA since re-joining the rotation in September. The 2003 first-round pick has pitched one scoreless inning of relief against Chicago this season.