Carlos Zambrano’s pitching helps Chicago Cubs defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 – MLB Update
Chicago Cubs’ starting pitcher, Carlos Zambrano had an outstanding day with the ball as he allowed just one earned run with an ERA of 4.46 in the Cubs’ 5-3 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, Pittsburgh on August 1.
The first two innings remained empty as the top of the first inning, Starlin Castro hit a single-run shot towards centre-field while Reed Johnson grounded out to short-stop and Castro got out to second base. Similarly, in the second inning, the Pirates’
batters were struggled as at second base, Ryan Ludwick got out and Ronny Cedeno struck-out looking.
Cubs added their first run in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead when Jeff Baker hit a sacrifice fly towards left-field and Johnson posted a single run. The Pirates posted their initial run during the fourth inning to tie the game 1-1. Derrek Lee hit a
one-run homer towards left-field to raise the momentum of the Pirates.
In the fifth inning, the pitchers did not give any run to the batters by tossing the curveballs in right line. Zambrano gifted just one run on seven hits in his six inning pitches and permitted three walks. He was able to strike-out five batters on his 114
pitches.
Cubs went ahead 4-1 by exploding three runs in the sixth inning. Geovany Soto doubled off left-field and Castro posted a single run. The second run was taken by Baker when Alfonso Soriano hit a grounder into fielder’s choice to short-stop position. Soto
put the third run on the score-board when Carlos Pena hit a sacrifice fly to left-field.
Lee said, “It was nice to get some hits and contribute. Unfortunately they got the win so we turn the page and get ready to go tomorrow.”
The batters did nothing with the bat during the seventh inning and got out to different field spots. In the eighth inning, Lee struck his second homer of the game towards centre-field and Neil Walker scored a single run to reduce the Pirates’ lead 4-3. Cubs
took their lead 5-3 in the ninth inning when Johnson doubled to deep left-field and Darwin Barney scored the last run of the game.
As a result, the Cubs got a 1-0 lead in the four-game series after having a comfortable victory.
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