On what felt like an early day in April, the Cubs offense woke up and powered the team to a resounding 9-3 victory to clinch their series against the New York Mets.
The game time temperature was a chilly 42 degrees, but starter Carlos Zambrano seemed unphased as he picked up his first home win since September of last year. Big Z threw six innings and gave up just two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks. He also struck out five.
But Zambrano wasn’t just excellent on the mound on Thursday afternoon — he also had a great day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with an RBI single. The Cubs offense hit the Mets hard all afternoon, beginning after starter R.A. Dickey was forced to exit the game after falling and injuring his foot on an attempt to field a single. Mets relievers Pedro Beato and Pat Misch were responsible for most of the damage, yielding a combined total of seven runs (three earned) in just 2.1 innings of work.
Those runs were the result of a two run Carlos Pena homer, and RBIs by Zambrano, Koyie Hill, Alfonso Soriano, and Darwin Barney. Kosuke Fukudome also added a home run in the eighth inning for good measure.
The Cubs will continue their homestead as they open Memorial Day weekend by hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates. First pitch in Friday’s game will be at 1:20 P.M., CDT.