News:
After giving up five homers to the Braves and getting ejected last night, Carlos Zambrano cleaned out his locker, ditched the hot mess that is the Cubs and claims he is going to retire.
Yesterday's Games:
The Brewers beat the Pirates 7-2. Our recap is here.
The Cardinals beat the Rockies 6-1. Kyle Lohse pitched well, allowing just the one earned run in 6.1 innings on four hits and three walks. The Cards were helped by a big five run inning in the sixth. Albert Pujols was 2-4 with a run and an RBI and David Freese was 2-3 with a run and three RBI.
The Astros managed just three hits as they were shut out by the Dodgers 1-0 in ten innings. Jose Altuve, Jason Bourgeois and Brian Bogusevic were the only Houston players to pick up a hit. Bud Norris was outstanding, pitching seven two hit innings and striking out eight Dodger players.
The Reds beat the Padres 5-3. San Diego had a one run lead in the eighth, but with two outs and a runner on the Padres intentionally walked Joey Votto to face Jay Bruce instead. Bad idea as Bruce promptly hit his 24th home run of the season. Bruce was 2-4 with four RBI total in this game.
The Cubs lost to the Braves 10-4. As mentioned above, Carlos Zambrano had a bit of a meltdown after allowing eight earned runs and five home runs in just 4.1 innings. Hitting-wise, Starlin Castro hit a solo shot for Chicago and Marlon Byrd, Reed Johnson, Aramis Ramirez, and Jeff Baker all had two hit days.
Updated Standings:
| W | L | GB | Last 10 | Streak | |
|
Brewers |
68 | 51 | -- | 8-2 | W1 |
| Cardinals | 64 | 55 | 4.0 | 7-3 | W2 |
| Reds | 58 | 61 | 10.0 |
5-5 | W2 |
| Pirates | 56 |
61 | 11.0 | 2-8 | L1 |
| Cubs | 51 | 68 | 17.0 | 7-3 | L1 |
| Astros | 38 | 81 | 30.0 | 2-8 | L4 |
Today's Matchups:
Marco Estrada (2-7, 4.80) takes Chris Narveson's spot in the rotation and goes up against Kevin Correia (12-10, 4.78) as the Brewers take on the Pirates.
Randy Wells (12-10, 4.78) and the Cubs take on Derek Lowe (7-10, 4.78) and the Braves.
Homer Bailey (6-5, 4.72) gets the start for the Reds as they go against Tim Stauffer (7-8, 3.06) and the Padres.
Jaime Garcia (10-5, 3.23) hopes to keep the Cardinals momentum going against the Rockies and Jason Hammel (6-11, 5.14).