04/23/24
September 14, 2008
Zambrano fires no-hitter!: The Big Z was never bigger for the Cubs, returning to the mound 12 days after leaving a game because of shoulder discomfort to throw the Cubs' first-no-hitter since Milt Pappas in 1972.
posted by tommytrump to baseball at 10:54 PM - 10 comments
Not sure I agree with letting a guy coming off injury-related rest throw 110 pitches in his first game back when the focus should be on making sure the rotation is healthy for the playoffs, but I suspect there wasn't much debate in the Cubs' dugout. I'm sure it's happened before, but "don't pull a pitcher working on a no hitter" seems to be about as solid an unwritten rule in baseball as there is.
posted by holden at 12:01 AM on September 15, 2008
That thought had occurred to me, too, but what else do you do? I know of at least a couple of occurrences of no-hitter-by-committee where the starter was on a strict pitch count, but apparently no one was too worried. Too many things are breaking the Cubs' way this year for that to go wrong.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:26 AM on September 15, 2008
The Cubs certainly are playing great baseball this season. This game being a milestone. But honestly, they have a lot to prove in the post season. One can hope for the best. I know as a Pirates fan I've been hoping to break 500 for quite a few years.
posted by adammcd at 01:45 PM on September 15, 2008
Z! Z! Z! Z! This is me, doing the Z dance.
posted by NoMich at 06:09 PM on September 15, 2008
The playoffs haven't started yet. GO SOX!
posted by volfire at 07:02 PM on September 15, 2008
Which SOX?
Congrats to Z, I didn't see any of it so to anybody that did - Did big Z show any signs of discomfort? He seems like a tough guy, ya know, the kind that will say he's alright to play but in all actuality he's not. I usually respect that, but with the Cubs hunting down a 100 year slump, I'd hate to see him further injure himself and risk any playoff starts.
posted by BoKnows at 10:35 PM on September 15, 2008
No sign of discomfort he looked better than i've seen him in a long time
posted by bigpimp311 at 11:40 PM on September 15, 2008
Watched the last 3 innings on MLB.tv; glad I bought that final month deal they had for the MLB.tv premium. The Cubs are basically a lock for the playoffs, so this is a feel-good win that might help them feel like they've got losing out of their system and are ready to hit the playoffs with a full head of all-cylinders-hitting momentum. Lilly pitched a beauty today as a follow-up.
I still say the Red Sox win the World Series, but if they lose the only team I'd be marginally okay losing to would be the Cubs.
posted by hincandenza at 01:34 AM on September 16, 2008
nobody was beating Carlos tonight
Not to defend the Astros (as I hate them), but how do you know that? Any thought that they Z may have looked so good because the situation the Astros were in? I mean it would be hard enough to concentrate on the game after the weekend that occurred, but then to know that your home game was taken away from you and you were then forced to play in a "neutral" field (yea, right) when you're actually fighting for a wild-card spot? Couldn't the "flat bats" be an explanation rather than Z simply having un-hitable stuff?
but there weren't any other stadiums with a roof available
Why did the game have to play then? Wouldn't it be better served that it was played at a later date at home, especially considering the playoff implications?
posted by bdaddy at 10:04 AM on September 16, 2008
A lot of people were whining about the Astros having to go to "Wrigley Field North" (despite the fact that they just swept a series at the real Wrigley Field just a week and a half ago), but let's face it...nobody was beating Carlos tonight. He could have pitched in Milwaukee, Houston, Cuba, Mars, doesn't matter. Not to say that I don't have a little sympathy for the Astros in this situation, but there weren't any other stadiums with a roof available except the thoroughly inconvenient Seattle. (Tampa is at home tomorrow, the D-Backs were at home today, and the Vikings were taking up the Metrodome today.)
I think the Cubs' slump is officially over, and anyone who was worried that the Cubs were going to blow it can now officially relax. Even if they start losing again, it doesn't look like anyone is really interested in catching them.