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Three-game series between the rivals Cardinals and the Cubs kicks off tonight with Zambrano and Carpenter on the mound.
Preview:
07/21/2005 6:53 PM ET
Cards welcome rival Cubs to town
Chicago Cubs (48-47) at St. Louis (61-34), 7:10 p.m. CT
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
The Cubs and the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on a midsummer Friday night should be enough to draw nearly any baseball fan. But in case it's not, check out the starting pitching matchup.
St. Louis will send its ace, right-hander Chris Carpenter, to the mound for the series opener. Carpenter has emerged as a leading candidate for the Cy Young Award, and he started the All-Star Game for the National League.
His opponent? An all-too-familiar face to Cards fans and hitters: Carlos Zambrano. The hard-throwing Venezuelan right-hander is as nasty as they come, with stuff that darts all over the place -- and he doesn't always know exactly where it's going. Zambrano, a groundball machine, can be what's known as "effectively wild" at times.
"He's got as good stuff as anybody in the game," said Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen, who is 7-for-30 (.233) lifetime against Zambrano. "The ball is going all over the place. Sinker, splitter, he throws 95 to 97 [mph] with reckless abandon. You really have to focus on centering the ball off of Zambrano.
"He knows where he's throwing it, but his ball does some strange things."
Zambrano falls in the love-to-hate category for many St. Louis sympathizers. The demonstrative 24-year-old has had a couple of run-ins with the Cardinals, including a memorable exchange with Jim Edmonds in 2003. But with his team in a tense struggle for a Wild Card spot, Zambrano will need to put the drama aside and concentrate on pitching.
"We need it tomorrow," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said Thursday. "Definitely. The bullpen is a little overworked after these last couple days because of the relatively short outings."
Both teams have rather different looks in their lineups from when they were playing each other constantly a year ago. St. Louis' offense has been shredded by injuries, with Reggie Sanders and Yadier Molina on the disabled list and Rolen and Larry Walker slowed due to persistent conditions.
The Cubs, meanwhile, also have endured a slew of injuries, but they also have remade their lineup since 2004. A team that was heavily right-handed in the past now has a bigger lefty presence, with players like Jody Gerut and Jeromy Burnitz joining Todd Walker and Todd Hollandsworth.
"I look forward to the challenge of Burnitz, Hollandsworth, Gerut, all those guys," said Cards reliever Ray King. "I look forward to going up against those guys. It's going to be a fun weekend. Hopefully, we can go out and play our style of baseball and continue to win."
Pitching matchup:
CHC: RHP Carlos Zambrano
• 7-4, 3.60 ERA in 2005
• 1-0, 1.04 ERA vs. STL in 2005
STL: RHP Chris Carpenter
• 14-4, 2.34 ERA in 2005
• 1-0, 0.00 ERA vs. CHC in 2005
On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes
On television
• CHC: WGN
• STL: FSN Midwest
On radio
• CHC: WGN 720
• STL: KMOX 1120
On deck
• Saturday: vs. Chicago, 2:15 p.m. CT
• Sunday: vs. Chicago, 7:05 p.m. CT
• Tuesday: vs. San Diego, 9:05 p.m. CT
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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