After being denied the W in his first start, Carlos Zambrano finally managed to get his first win of the season last week at Milwaukee. The right-hander toughed it out through six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits along the way, but improved to 1-0 as a result.
He'll go for his second win of the season on Wednesday evening at Houston, as he takes on Wandy Rodriguez and the Astros. Zambrano is currently 1-0 on the season with a 5.25 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. His career numbers against Houston are much more favorable, as he's 14-8 with a 2.63 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 29 starts against them. Of the current Astros, Michael Bourn and Carlos Lee will be the biggest threats this evening. Bourn is 6-for-16 with a double and five walks against Zambrano. Meanwhile, the "other Carlos" has given Big Z absolute fits over his career. Carlos Lee owns a .379 BA and 1.188 OPS against Zambrano, and has taken him deep five times over 58 at-bats.
Taking the mound for Houston will be Wandy Rodriguez. Rodriguez has had a bit of a tough start to the year. He's 0-1 with a 6.55 ERA and 1.64 WHIP. Those numbers are largely thanks to a disastrous first start against Philadelphia, in which he gave up seven runs over just four innings. His second start went much better, as he held Florida to just one run over seven innings. He was still denied the win in that game, however, as Houston's bullpen blew up late. The Cubs will be hoping that the Wandy they see will be more like his first game of the season and less like his career numbers against the Cubs. Rodriguez is 5-4 with a career 3.79 ERA and 1.32 WHIP vs. Chicago.
Cubs that hit Wandy Rodriguez well include Jeff Baker, who has a .500 average against Rodriguez, and Geovany Soto, is 7-for-16.
First pitch in the game is at 7:10 P.M. CDT and the game will be televised on WGN.