Carlos Zambrano had a mediocre start on Tuesday night, but that wasn’t what sealed a loss for the Chicago Cubs. Rather, it was several defensive miscues and a lack of power hitting in key situations that robbed the team of a victory.
Though the Cubs managed to get hits off of the St. Louis starter — Chris Carpenter threw seven innings and gave up four runs on thirteen hits — all of the Cubs hits on the night were singles, and they managed to come at the least opportune times, as the team left twelve men on base during the night. Carlos Zambrano also gave up four runs, but did so on just eight hits over seven innings.
The game was really put away in the top of the eighth inning, however. Kerry Wood came on in relief and, after a single by Albert Pujols and a walk to Matt Holiday, loaded the bases with an intentional walk of Yadier Molina. Daniel Descalso then singled to right, scoring two runs and putting the game out of reach for the light hitting Cubs.
If the disappointing loss wasn’t enough, the Cubs also lost catcher Geovany Soto. He strained his groin in the first inning and will have an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
The Cubs will send Matt Garza to the mound and try for revenge on Wednesday night. First pitch will be at 7:05 P.M., CDT.