We know Carlos Zambrano loves baseball. He must've been chomping at the bit over the past two days with the unknown nature of when/where his next start would take place. His energy level must've been off the chart. Thankfully, he was able to control that energy tonight. And he did it in a big way.9 innings pitched, zero runs, zero hits. That's right, I said zero hits. A no-hitter for the Big Z. He survived the game without yielding a hit despite being upset with himself for striking out in the seventh. But as the bat went parallel to the ground and his knee raised, he controlled himself and decided against breaking another bat over his knee.
This is the first Cubs No-No since 1972. Z did it in an almost un-Z-like 110 pitches. Not bad, considering Lou wanted to limit him to 100. But with the 100th pitch being thrown in the bottom of the 9th inning, Lou may not have made it back to the dugout if he had tried to take Z out of the game. Z may have also been helped before the ninth began, as he was scheduled to bat fourth in the inning. He didn't get a chance, as the Cubs went 1-2-3, but the fact that he had to mentall prep (and we know Z takes every AB importantly) may have allowed him to ignore the fact that he was heading into the ninth without a hit.
A great performance. Congrats, Z.
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