On a 34 degree evening at Wrigley Field last night, Carlos Zambrano came to pitch. The problem was that San Diego Padres pitcher Tim Stauffer showed up too. With the chilly conditions, scoring runs were going to be a challenge but the Cubs came through in the tenth inning by beating the Padres 1-0 on an RBI double by Tyler Colvin.
Zambrano pitched eight scoreless innings giving up only three hits and walking one. He also struck out ten batters. The line was nearly the same for Stauffer, pitching seven scoreless innings giving up four hits and walking one but only struck out four.
“Big Z has been here for almost 10 years so he can handle [the weather],” Cubs catcher Geovany Soto said.
Zambrano though did run into some early trouble in the top of the second inning. With two outs, the Padres managed to put two runners in scoring position but Zambrano was able to get the next batter, Stauffer, to ground out. This would be the only real threat the Padres would force against Zambrano.
The Cubs offense meanwhile wasn’t a factor at all for most of the evening, never having any more than one runner on base at any given point during the game. However, they came through to break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the tenth.
With Soto on first and two outs in the inning, Colvin knocked a double to right field off of relief pitcher Chad Qualls that would score Soto and victoriously end the game for the Cubs.
Despite struggling at the plate in the early going this year, Colvin remains optimistic about his role with the team and being last night’s hero was undoubtedly a real boost for him.
“You have to have your confidence, you have to go up there knowing you’re going to hit,” Colvin said. “That’s the way I have to approach it. It’s a battle coming off the bench.”
This evening’s game was postponed due to bad weather at Wrigley and the Cubs will play a double header against the Padres tomorrow.
Cubs’ pitcher Matt Garza will take the mound against San Diego Padres pitcher Dustin Moseley in Game 1. James Russell will be making his second start of the year in place of the injured Andrew Cashner in Game 2 against Padres pitcher Aaron Harang.
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