In the first two games of their four game set with the Giants, the Cubs pitching staff was beaten to a pulp. Across the two games, they gave up 19 runs, good for an ERA of 9.50. In game three of the series, Ryan Dempster and Carlos Marmol combined to give up just a single run. Now fans are wondering which Cubs pitching staff will show up in the last game of the series.
The Cubs will hope that they see the good version of Carlos Zambrano on Thursday afternoon at Wrigley. On the season, Z is 6-4 with a 4.38 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. After some hiccups during the middle of June, Zambrano has turned in two solid starts, against the White Sox and Kansas City, across which he had an ERA of 3.00. In his career against San Francisco, Zambrano is 5-1 with a 2.58 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. The only Giant Zambrano might have trouble with is Miguel Tejada, who holds a career .296 average against Zambrano with one double and one home run.
Starting for the Giants on Thursday will be Matt Cain, who is 7-4 with a 3.22 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. In his career against the Cubs, Cain is 5-2 with a 2.38 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. Blake DeWitt has hit him well in his career, with a .333 average against him with one home run.
The weather in Chicago is forecast to be sunny and clear with a game time temperature in the mid-80s. First pitch is at 1:20 P.M., CDT, and the game will be televised on WGN and CSN-BA.