Cubs waste brilliant effort from Zambrano, lose to Astros 2-1

There was not a lot of action in tonight's game. Carlos Zambrano was dominant: 8IP, ER, 3H, 3K, 2BB. He was cruising along until the 7th inning when he had some control issues and the Astros managed to score a run. Tonight was Zambrano's best start of the season. It was a shame he could not have come away with a victory.

The Cubs offense was only able to score one run off of Houston starter, Wandy Rodriguez. Rodriguez had to throw a lot of pitches, but he was effective. The Cubs scored their lone run on a Geovany Soto solo-HR. I had a hunch Soto would hit in Houston. The rest of the Cubs' hitters did not have good nights. Ryan Theriot did have two hits. Derrek Lee and Milton Bradley had one hit apiece, but neither looked particularly impressive tonight. Bradley also grounded into a double play. Alfonso Soriano continues to disappoint going 0-3, lowering his BA to .237. Finally in the bottom of the ninth Angel Guzman finally lost one. In 0.1IP, Guzman allowed two hits and two walks, and allowed the game winning run on a Geoff Blum single. In fairness, Guzman has been solid all season, and was due for a bump-in-the-road. Hopefully he can rebound his next time out. It would have been nice to see the Cubs score more runs tonight, they left 7 men on base, and were 0-3 w/RISP. At least the Brewers also lost, to the red-hot Rockies, so we did not lose any ground in the division. Additionally Aaron Miles got the start at second-base (and why should he?) and was a surprising 1-4, the clock is ticking Aaron!

Up Next: The Cubs finish their three game set and 9 game road-trip with a 1:05pm game with Houston. Ryan Dempster (4-3, 4.12 ERA) is going for the Cubs and either Mike Hampton or Russ Ortiz is going for the Astros. Neither Astros pitcher is very good so I hope the Cubs can face either one, apparently the Astros are considering moving Roy Oswalt up a day in the rotation. If it is all the same, I would like to see the Cubs face Ortiz, who they rocked the last time they faced him. Also, I am not really sure what to expect from Dempster. He has been pitching well lately and I expect him (like the other Cubs starters) to keep it going and give his team a chance to win. The Cubs should win tomorrow afternoon and head home for Interleague games on a high note.