2007: (April 18-19) Chicago Cubs @ Atlanta Braves

[JoseA]

Chicago Cubs @ Atlanta Braves
At Turner Field



Wed., April 18 @ 6:35 p.m. CT
TV: CSN+ | Radio: WGN 720

-------------

Carlos Zambrano, RHP --vs. Kyle Davies, RHP
(1-2, 7.88)---------(0-0, 2.70)

[JoseA]

Thursday, April 19
6:35 PM CT
WGN, MLB.TV

------

Rich Hill, LHP vs. Mark Redman, LHP
(2-0, 0.64)-------------(0-2, 12.96)

[JoseA]

Well I must say I love the pitching matchups for this series. I believe we have a clear-cut advantage in both. Expect Zambrano to bounce back and hopefully Hill will continue his success.

If our offense could back up our pitching this series, then we will take both.

[JoseA]

Zambrano out to rebound vs. Braves

Maybe being away from home will help the Cubs.

After a 2-5 homestand, the Cubs head south for a brief two-game series against the Atlanta Braves. Let's see which Carlos Zambrano shows up.

Zambrano will start Wednesday night. In his last outing against the Cincinnati Reds, he gave up one hit over four scoreless innings and had a 5-0 lead. Then, everything fell apart and he couldn't retire a batter in the fifth. The first seven Reds reached safely before Zambrano was pulled, and he took the loss in a 6-5 decision.

Big Z faces Kyle Davies in the series opener, which will wrap up Thursday when Rich Hill goes for his third win, facing lefty Mark Redman.

Article

Hopefully Zambrano will bounce back, but I think he will. His last outing wasn't all that bad, well except the inning where he gave up 5 runs Anyway maybe being on the road will help us find ourselves, odd saying that isn't it?

[JoseA]

Game preview:

Pitching matchup
CHC: RHP Carlos Zambrano (1-2, 7.88 ERA)
Zambrano is coming off a strange outing. He hit his first homer of the season as well as a double, but blew a 5-0 lead as the Reds rallied. The Cubs ace is 1-0 in two games at Turner Field, giving up one earned run over 12 innings. Zambrano is seven innings away from reaching 1,000 in his career.

ATL: RHP Kyle Davies (0-0, 2.70 ERA)
Other than the back-to-back, two-out second-inning homers he surrendered, Davies was nearly perfect in his season debut against the Mets on Sunday. The 23-year-old right-hander matched a career high with eight strikeouts and issued three walks. He has regained the confidence he lacked when he came back from right groin surgery to make six forgettable September starts last year. Since altering the placement of his hands during his windup three weeks ago, he's shown an ability to find more consistency with his location.

Player to watch
Keep your eye on Pie. In his Major League debut Tuesday, the highly touted outfielder went 1-for-6 with a double, RBI, and scored a run. He also made the Web gem of the month with a perfect strike to catcher Michael Barrett to throw out a potential game-winning run at home in the 10th inning.

Preview

[JoseA]

Zambrano is having a very rocky game....He expects to get the big money pitching like this? 6 hits, 4 walks, 4 runs in just 4 innings....horrible stats.

DeRosa hit another home run today, but just a solo. Besides that not much offense, along with good pitching either....

[JoseA]

Bullpen can't hold off Braves

Tired from Tuesday's extra innings, Chicago falls to Atlanta

Zambrano had a rough first inning....

ATLANTA -- The Cubs looked to their ace, Carlos Zambrano, for a quality start and a night off for their bullpen.

Instead, they got a shaky start by Zambrano and an off-night from the bullpen.

"What did us in tonight was a real tired bullpen," said manager Lou Piniella following his team's 8-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night at Turner Field in the first of a brief two-game set. "We didn't get the real good performance we were looking for from Zambrano. The guys battled, [but] it just didn't hold."

The Cubs dropped to 5-9, and have now lost seven of their last nine games. Atlanta has won three of its last four.

Recap

[JoseA]

Hill tosses gem as Cubs beat Braves

Hill is now 3-0.

Dempster picks up his third save

ATLANTA -- They say momentum is as good as the next day's starting pitcher.

There's no greater momentum for the Cubs these days than when Rich Hill takes the mound.

"He's pitched as well as anybody in baseball," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella. "Today, we really needed some innings to rest our bullpen one more day, and he gave us exactly what we wanted. He really mixes up his pitches well and he does a nice job of slide-stepping and using the leg kick. He's fun to watch."

Hill pitched a four-hit shutout over eight innings, and Michael Barrett and Aramis Ramirez blasted home runs as the Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-0, Thursday night at Turner Field to gain a split of the two-game series.

Recap

[JoseA]

Well we know Zambrano stunk it up the first game, but wow that second game was amazing....Rich Hill is looking like he is one of the best pitchers in the league, his ERA is lett than .5! At least he is winning games, unlike our batting....