Chi Cubs (95-61) at NY Mets (87-70)

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chc

Big Z leads hot-hitting Cubs hurlers

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Scouts doing their postseason prep work can't just look at what the Cubs' pitchers do on the mound. They've got to pay attention to what they do at the plate, as well.
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Cubs probable pitcher

Carlos Zambrano

  • #38 RHP
  • (14-6) 3.77 ERA 128 SO
Cubs: Zambrano lasted 1 2/3 innings in his last start against the Cardinals, much to the disappointment of the 40,000-plus at Wrigley Field. It was his first start since his no-hitter on Sept. 14. Against St. Louis, he gave up eight runs on six hits and three walks over 1 2/3 innings. It was his shortest outing since a 1 1/3-inning start Sept. 4, 2006, against Pittsburgh.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 96-61 3.46 1377.1 616 1170 .228
Season 14-6 3.77 184.0 68 128 .243
September 1-1 6.32 15.2 7 14 .196
Vs. NY Mets 1-0 1.29 7.0 2 4 .227

Series at a Glance

Standings - 09/24/2008 W L PCT GB Home Away
Chicago Cubs (NL Central) 95 61 .609 - 55-26 40-35
New York Mets (NL East) 87 70 .554 1.5 46-30 41-40
Stats - 09/24/2008 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
CHC .278 831 177 788 84 1142 3.85 1407.0 1293 524 1226
NYM .267 781 170 733 130 986 4.04 1418.1 1367 565 1137
nym

Mets try to look past last season

Jon Blau / MLB.com
The Mets walk on to the Shea Stadium grass and are occupied by pitching, catching, and hitting. Where a thought about September 2007 fits in a baseball player's mind as he hunts for this year's playoffs, manager Jerry Manuel would not know.
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Mets probable pitcher

Oliver Perez

  • #46 LHP
  • (10-7) 4.10 ERA 168 SO
Mets: Perez's last outing can be considered a success in at least one respect: He appeared done after five innings and 97 pitches, but gave the Mets an additional effective inning -- his most impressive of the night -- to prevent a shaky bullpen from clocking into work even earlier. Perez still hasn't regained his form from a nearly untouchable July, but he has managed to post two consecutive strong outings, both against the same team -- a not-so-small fact that makes the task tougher. He'll finally face a fresh opponent, the Cubs, on Wednesday, marking his first start against them since 2005.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 55-60 4.37 989.2 520 1015 .240
Season 10-7 4.10 184.1 97 168 .232
September 1-0 5.48 23.0 13 22 .258

Cubs hitters vs Oliver Perez

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Adduci, James - - - - - - - -
Baker, Jeff .000 4 0 0 .000 4 0 0
Blanco, Andres - - - - - - - -
Bradley, Milton .000 1 0 0 .125 8 0 0
Castillo, Welington - - - - - - - -
Colvin, Tyler - - - - - - - -
Fontenot, Mike - - - - - - - -
Fox, Jake - - - - - - - -
Fukudome, Kosuke - - - - - - - -
Fuld, Sam - - - - - - - -
Hill, Koyie - - - - - - - -
Hoffpauir, Micah - - - - - - - -
Lee, Derrek - - - - .167 12 1 2
Miles, Aaron - - - - .250 8 0 1
Ramirez, Aramis - - - - .333 12 0 1
Soriano, Alfonso - - - - .111 9 0 0
Soto, Geovany - - - - - - - -
Theriot, Ryan - - - - .667 3 0 0

Mets hitters vs Carlos Zambrano

  2008 2003-2007
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Beltran, Carlos .000 3 0 0 .059 17 1 2
Bowman, Shawn - - - - - - - -
Carter, Chris - - - - - - - -
Castillo, Luis .500 2 0 0 .400 10 0 0
Evans, Nick - - - - - - - -
Francoeur, Jeff .667 3 1 2 .286 14 2 8
Green, Andy - - - - - - - -
Hernandez, Anderson - - - - - - - -
Martinez, Fernando - - - - - - - -
Murphy, Daniel - - - - .000 2 0 0
Pagan, Angel - - - - - - - -
Reed, Jeremy - - - - - - - -
Reyes, Jose .333 3 0 0 .167 18 0 0
Santos, Omir - - - - - - - -
Sullivan, Cory - - - - .667 3 0 0
Thole, Josh - - - - - - - -
Wright, David .000 2 0 0 .200 15 0 3

Cubs aren't sweet (Lou) on Mets (96-61) (87-71)

Cubs 9, Mets 6 (10)

Chicago wins in 10th

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Lou Piniella's 1,700th career managerial victory was a sweet one, as the Cubs won it in the 10th inning behind Derrek Lee's bloop RBI double and Aramis Ramirez's two-run homer to give the Mets extra trouble in their quest for a playoff berth.

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Series at a Glance

 

Tied up in Wild Card

Anthony DiComo / MLB.com
The Mets had chances in the eighth and ninth innings to beat the Cubs, but were foiled each time out and lost in the 10th when Luis Ayala couldn't preserve the tie. With the loss, the Mets are now tied with the Brewers for the NL Wild Card lead.
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Cubs 9, Mets 6

Chi CubsABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Soriano, LF5021110.285
  Pie, CF0000000.247
Theriot, SS6230003.304
Lee, 1B3211302.293
Ramirez, A, 3B3222311.289
DeRosa, RF3123003.285
  1-Fukudome, PR-RF3100003.260
Johnson, R, CF-LF5021030.308
Cedeno, 2B5100012.269
Blanco, H, C3020000.289
  a-Hoffpauir, PH1010000.333
  Hart, K, P0000000.000
  Samardzija, P0000000.000
  c-Edmonds, PH1000010.235
  Howry, P0000000.000
  Wood, P0000000.000
Zambrano, C, P3000013.341
  Cotts, P0000000.000
  b-Ward, PH1000002.219
  Hill, K, C1000000.154
Totals4391587819 

a-Singled for Blanco, H in the 7th. b-Popped out for Cotts in the 7th. c-Struck out for Samardzija in the 9th.
1-Ran for DeRosa in the 5th.

BATTING
2B: DeRosa (30, Perez), Soriano (27, Stokes), Lee (41, Ayala).
HR: DeRosa (21, 2nd inning off Perez, 0 on, 0 out), Ramirez, A (27, 10th inning off Ayala, 1 on, 2 out).
TB: Soriano 3; Theriot 3; Lee 2; Ramirez, A 5; DeRosa 6; Johnson, R 2; Blanco, H 2; Hoffpauir.
RBI: DeRosa 3 (87), Johnson, R (50), Soriano (75), Lee (90), Ramirez, A 2 (111).
2-out RBI: Soriano; Lee; Ramirez, A 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: DeRosa 2; Zambrano, C; Fukudome; Theriot 2.
GIDP: Theriot; Fukudome.
Team LOB: 11.

BASERUNNING
SB: Theriot (22, 2nd base off Ayala/Castro, R).

FIELDING
DP: (Lee).
 
NY MetsABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Reyes, J, SS5110114.300
Murphy, LF4110113.339
Wright, 3B4111122.300
Delgado, 1B4224102.274
Beltran, CF3010200.280
Church, RF5000026.277
Schneider, C2000000.257
  b-Evans, PH1000011.262
  Castro, R, C2000015.245
Reyes, Ar, 2B3010011.218
  Stokes, P0000000.667
  Parnell, P0000000.000
  c-Chavez, PH0000100.269
  Ayala, P0000000.000
  d-Castillo, PH1000000.245
Perez, P1100001.109
  Sanchez, P0000000.000
  a-Anderson, PH0000100.215
  Smith, P0000000.000
  Rincon, P0000000.000
  Martinez, R, 2B2011100.333
Totals376869925 

a-Walked for Sanchez in the 5th. b-Struck out for Schneider in the 6th. c-Intentionally walked for Parnell in the 8th. d-Grounded out for Ayala in the 10th.

BATTING
2B: Martinez, R (1, Hart, K), Delgado (32, Samardzija).
3B: Murphy (3, Howry).
HR: Delgado (38, 3rd inning off Zambrano, C, 3 on, 2 out).
TB: Reyes, J; Murphy 3; Wright; Delgado 6; Beltran; Reyes, Ar; Martinez, R 2.
RBI: Wright (123), Delgado 4 (114), Martinez, R (1).
2-out RBI: Wright; Delgado 4; Martinez, R.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Delgado; Reyes, Ar; Wright; Reyes, J 2; Castro, R 2.
Team LOB: 10.

BASERUNNING
SB: Beltran 3 (24, 2nd base off Samardzija/Hill, K, 2nd base off Cotts/Blanco, H, 3rd base off Cotts/Blanco, H).

FIELDING
E: Murphy (1, fielding).
DP: 2 (Reyes, J-Delgado, Martinez, R-Reyes, J-Delgado).
 
Chi CubsIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Zambrano, C 4.23554213.91
Cotts 1.10001303.97
Hart, K (H, 1)1.02000006.84
Samardzija (BS, 3)1.02112102.33
Howry (W, 7-4)1.01002205.19
Wood (S, 34)1.00000103.31
 
NY MetsIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Perez 4.16555614.25
Sanchez 0.22000004.32
Smith 0.21001003.67
Rincon 0.10000002.45
Stokes 1.03110003.48
Parnell 1.00001001.93
Ayala (L, 2-10)2.03330215.69

IBB: Chavez (by Samardzija), Delgado (by Howry), Beltran (by Howry).
Pitches-strikes: Zambrano, C 87-50, Cotts 27-18, Hart, K 17-10, Samardzija 27-15, Howry 26-12, Wood 17-12, Perez 105-58, Sanchez 17-10, Smith 18-11, Rincon 4-3, Stokes 13-10, Parnell 12-5, Ayala 37-25.
Groundouts-flyouts: Zambrano, C 5-7, Cotts 0-1, Hart, K 0-2, Samardzija 2-0, Howry 1-0, Wood 1-1, Perez 3-4, Sanchez 1-1, Smith 1-1, Rincon 0-1, Stokes 2-1, Parnell 3-0, Ayala 3-1.
Batters faced: Zambrano, C 21, Cotts 5, Hart, K 4, Samardzija 7, Howry 6, Wood 3, Perez 23, Sanchez 4, Smith 4, Rincon 1, Stokes 6, Parnell 3, Ayala 9.
Inherited runners-scored: Cotts 2-0, Sanchez 2-2, Rincon 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Jim Wolf. 1B: Jerry Layne. 2B: Randy Marsh. 3B: Phil Cuzzi.
Weather: 63 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 10 mph, In from LF.
T: 4:04.
Att: 54,416.
September 24, 2008

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner