Zambrano Goes After 10th Straight Win, Cubs Look to Even Record Against Houston

COMMENTARY | Carlos Zambrano will be going for his second win of the 2011 season and his 10^th straight pitching victory since last year when the Cubs square off against the Houston Astros in the third game of the best-of-three series Wednesday. Zambrano and the Cubs will be up against a Houston team which, despite a winless five-game start, has battled back to 3-8.

I am using as reference an article by Cash Kruth at the MLB.com website titled "Astros aim to ride upswing into finale with Big Z, Cubs."

While the Houston Astros have been concerned about their winning despite having all of their team healthy, the Chicago Cubs are trying to work through the loss of two of their starting pitchers, Andrew Cashner and Randy Wells. So far the experience has not been a good one, although the Cubs are managing to hang around the break-even point.

Casey Coleman and James Russell have both tried starting and come up short. In both cases, they will no doubt get another shot, and while the Cubs may take some unwanted hits due to the circumstances, the experience for these two pitchers may give Chicago much-needed experience late in the season.

The Cubs' rotation has finally returned to a pitcher who is not injured -- Carlos Zambrano, "Big Z" (1-0, 5.25 ERA). In his last start at Milwaukee, Zambrano won his ninth straight game as well as keeping his winning streak alive at six in the Brew Crew's home park.

Zambrano and the Cubs will be facing Houston pitcher Wandy Rodriguez (0-1, 6.55 ERA). While Rodriguez has a loss, the loss comes as a result of the failure of the Houston bullpen to perform; Rodriguez pitched well.

The Cubs lost two out of three games against the Brewers. They need tonight's game against the Astros in order to be .500 on the road and even their overall record at six.

In other news, second-baseman Darwin Barney has been playing very well. He has played good defense at second base and is batting .320.

Oh, by the way, I think the Cubs will even their record this evening.

Reference:

MLB.com Website, Cash Kruth, "Astros aim to ride upswing into finale with Big Z, Cubs"