Game 1 | On the hook in the desert: Cubs fall to D-Backs after Zambrano exits
The Arizona Diamondbacks drew first blood in their National League Division Series against the Cubs, scoring twice in the seventh inning to earn a 3-1 victory late Wednesday at Chase Field.
Mark Reynolds greeted losing pitcher Carlos Marmol with a leadoff home run to break a 1-1 tie. An out later, Chris Snyder walked, took third on a double by Augie Ojeda and scored on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Conor Jackson.
(AP)
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D-Backs sting Cubs
Game 1 | On the hook in Arizona: Cubs fall to D-Backs after Zambrano exits
The Diamondbacks' bullpen did the rest, with setup man Brandon Lyon and closer Jose Valverde each pitching a scoreless inning. Valverde walked pinch hitter Daryle Ward with two outs in the ninth, but Alfonso Soriano hit into a force play to end the game.
The Cubs will try to get even with a victory in Game 2 tonight. They will send Ted Lilly to the mound against the Diamondbacks' Doug Davis in a battle of lefties.
Neither team did much offensively until the Diamondbacks' rally. Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano allowed only a fourth-inning homer to Stephen Drew in six innings, and the only run Diamondbacks starter Brandon Webb yielded came on an infield single by Ryan Theriot with the bases loaded in the sixth. Zambrano then struck out to end the inning.
Before the game, the Cubs were optimistic about making their first World Series appearance since 1945.
''If we play the way we're capable, I think the outcome's going to be good for us,'' Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. ''We've got as good a chance as anybody else. We're going to have to pitch well, and we're going to have to get some timely hitting. But we're built for the short term as well as the long term.''
That's what much of the last two months had been about. Not only did Piniella fine-tune some of the lineup combinations he had been exploring all season, but he and pitching coach Larry Rothschild kept especially close watches on pitch counts for their entire staff during the final two months.
The result has been a better-rested bullpen and a strong-and-ready starting rotation - whether Piniella ultimately chooses to go three deep or four deep in starters should the series reach a Game 4 at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs' staff finished second in the NL in team ERA at 4.04. That was tops among the playoff qualifiers.
''Starting pitching-wise, we've watched pitch counts very carefully all summer,'' Piniella said. ''Whenever we had an opportunity to give a pitcher an extra day, we would do that, and we staggered it pretty well.
''As far as the relievers, we look at their appearances and the number of pitches that they've been throwing [per appearance]. If a pitcher in our bullpen has been used more than what we want, we'll just give him a few days off. And we've been able to do that all summer because we have depth.
''It's functioned pretty well.''
The Cubs also were confident that even if they continued to have trouble scoring against the Diamondbacks' stout pitching staff - their bullpen, in particular - they could win a pitching duel. And often enough, they might win a little more than a particular North Side franchise has experienced in generations.
''This is the 2007 Cubs, and we should just be concerned about the 2007 Cubs - nothing more, nothing less,'' Piniella said when faced again with a question about the star-crossed October history of the Cubs. ''What's transpired in the past is really of no significance now. We've got an opportunity ahead of us to win these next two series and go on to the World Series.
''We're going to try as hard as we can, and I think what's happened in the past has happened. I don't think it has any bearing, and it shouldn't.''