Zambrano: Brewers not as good as Reds
It's not exactly Cubs vs. Cardinals, but Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano and Brewers center fielder Bill Hall may have added some heat to the 13 remaining meetings this year.
After the Cubs' 6-3 victory Saturday, Zambrano said the reason he pitched better Saturday than he did in a loss Monday in Cincinnati was that the Brewers' lineup isn't as good as the Reds'. Then Hall insinuated that if Derrek Lee hadn't made an acrobatic play to start a double play in the fourth inning, Zambrano would have folded.
''The difference was the ballclub,'' Zambrano said of following a poor five-inning start against the Reds with seven strong innings Saturday. ''In Cincinnati, they're better hitters than in Milwaukee. I don't say that the Milwaukee Brewers are nothing, but the offense of the Cincinnati Reds is better.
''With [the Reds'] Ken Griffey and all those guys, when you make a mistake, you will pay for that. Sometimes you make a mistake with Milwaukee, and sometimes they miss it, which is good.''
Rickie Weeks didn't miss Zambrano's mistake on a 3-2 pitch leading off the fourth, driving it over the fence in left-center field to cut the Cubs' lead to 2-1. Zambrano then walked J.J. Hardy on another 3-2 pitch.
That's when Lee made the cat-like play on a ground shot by Prince Fielder just inside the first-base bag, lunging to spear it, then, from his stomach, tagging the bag with his glove and getting to his knees to throw to shortstop Cesar Izturis for the tag of Hardy and a double play.
Zambrano followed that by walking Hall on four pitches and giving up a single to Johnny Estrada. But when he struck out Geoff Jenkins -- after falling behind and getting a visit from pitching coach Larry Rothschild -- he avoided a big inning.''He's a guy you like to jump on early and get him frustrated. Unfortunately, we didn't have a big inning and get him rattled,'' Hall said. ''We had some opportunities to get him on the ropes, but he was able to weasel out of it.''
Zambrano (8-7 in 17 career starts against the Brewers) is scheduled to face the Brewers again when the teams open a three-game series April 23 at Wrigley Field.
SHORT HOPS: Cubs fans packed ''Wrigley North'' to give Miller Park its second consecutive sellout crowd and the third in five home dates for the Brewers.
• Despite a $300 million offseason and the eighth-highest payroll in the majors ($99.7 million), the Cubs didn't have anyone listed on ESPN.com's 15-player most-overpaid list. In fact, Michael Barrett ($4.2 million) is the catcher on the site's 12-man all-bargain team (minimum six yearsrience).
• Derrek Lee's first-inning double was his 500th career extra-base hit.
• The Cubs miss ace Roy Oswalt in their home-opening series against the Houston Astros. The pitching probables for the series: Cubs' Ted Lilly vs. Astros' Woody Williams on Monday; Jason Marquis vs. Chris Sampson on Tuesday; and Rich Hill vs. Wandy Rodriguez on Wednesday.