NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL AT ARIZONA - PITCHING CHANGE ARI: JOSE VALVERDE (NO RECORD) STARTING THE 9TH CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 3 DUE UP FOR CHCUBS: G SOTO (.000, 0-FOR-2)</div>
NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL AT ARIZONA - MID INNING UPDATE PLAY: J Valverde relieved B Lyon. SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1 ARIZONA 3 TOP, 9TH DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: G Soto (.000, 0-FOR-2)</div>
NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL AT ARIZONA - MID INNING UPDATE PLAY: D Ward hit for B Howry. SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 2 OUTS CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1 ARIZONA 3 TOP, 9TH DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: D Ward (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)</div>
NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL AT ARIZONA - MID INNING UPDATE PLAY: R Cedeno ran for D Ward. SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, R CEDENO ON FIRST, 2 OUTS CURRENT SCORE: CHICAGO CUBS 1 ARIZONA 3 TOP, 9TH DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: A Soriano (.000, 0-FOR-4)</div>
NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 ARIZONA 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 x 3 6 1 (FINAL) BATTERIES: CHN - CARLOS ZAMBRANO, CARLOS MARMOL (7TH), BOBBY HOWRY (8TH) AND GEOVANY SOTO ARI - BRANDON WEBB, BRANDON LYON (8TH), JOSE VALVERDE (9TH) AND CHRIS SNYDER HOME RUNS: CHN - NONE ARI - STEPHEN DREW (1) OFF CARLOS ZAMBRANO IN THE 4TH, 0 ON MARK REYNOLDS (1) OFF CARLOS MARMOL IN THE 7TH, 0 ON</div>
NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ARIZONA <div class="pre">NL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 ARIZONA 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 x 3 6 1 (FINAL) BATTERIES: CHN - CARLOS ZAMBRANO, CARLOS MARMOL (7TH), BOBBY HOWRY (8TH) AND GEOVANY SOTO ARI - BRANDON WEBB, BRANDON LYON (8TH), JOSE VALVERDE (9TH) AND CHRIS SNYDER WP - BRANDON WEBB (1-0) LP - CARLOS MARMOL (0-1) SAVE - JOSE VALVERDE (1) HOME RUNS: CHN - NONE ARI - STEPHEN DREW (1) OFF CARLOS ZAMBRANO IN THE 4TH, 0 ON MARK REYNOLDS (1) OFF CARLOS MARMOL IN THE 7TH, 0 ON TIME: 2:33 ATT: 48,864 PROBABLES: CHN - TED LILLY (NR) ARI - DOUG DAVIS (NR)</div>
NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ARIZONA <div class="pre">CHICAGO CUBS (1) VS ARIZONA (3) - FINAL CHICAGO CUBS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg A Soriano lf 5 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 J Jones cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .000 D Lee 1b 4 1 1 0 0 3 2 .250 A Ramirez 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 C Floyd rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000 M DeRosa 2b 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .500 G Soto c 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 .000 R Theriot ss 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 .250 C Zambrano p 3 0 1 0 0 1 4 .333 C Marmol p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 B Howry p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-D Ward ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 R Cedeno pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 32 1 4 1 4 10 16 a-walked for B Howry in the 9th. BATTING: 2B - C Zambrano (1, B Webb). RBI - R Theriot (1). 2-out RBI - R Theriot. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Zambrano 2, D Lee 1, J Jones 1, R Theriot 1. Team LOB - 9. FIELDING: DP: 1 (R Theriot-M DeRosa-D Lee). ARIZONA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg C Young cf 4 0 1 0 0 3 1 .250 S Drew ss 4 1 2 1 0 2 1 .500 E Byrnes lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 T Clark 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 M Reynolds 3b 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 .333 J Salazar rf 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000 C Snyder c 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 .000 A Ojeda 2b 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 .667 B Webb p 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000 a-C Jackson ph 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .000 B Lyon p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 J Valverde p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 28 3 6 3 2 12 8 a-hit sacrifice fly to center for B Webb in the 7th. BATTING: 2B - A Ojeda (1, C Marmol). HR - S Drew (1, 4th inning off C Zambrano 0 on, 0 Out), M Reynolds (1, 7th inning off C Marmol 0 on, 0 Out). SF - C Jackson. RBI - S Drew (1), M Reynolds (1), C Jackson (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - T Clark 1, C Young 1. GIDP - C Snyder. Team LOB - 4. BASERUNNING: SB - C Young (1, 2nd base off C Zambrano/G Soto). FIELDING: E - M Reynolds (1, throw). ---------------------------------------------------- CHICAGO CUBS - 000 001 000 -- 1 ARIZONA - 000 100 20x -- 3 ---------------------------------------------------- CHICAGO CUBS ip h r er bb so hr era C Zambrano 6 4 1 1 1 8 1 1.50 C Marmol (L, 0-1) 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 18.00 B Howry 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 ARIZONA ip h r er bb so hr era B Webb (W, 1-0) 7 4 1 1 3 9 0 1.29 B Lyon (H, 1) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 J Valverde (S, 1) 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 WP - B Webb. HBP - M DeRosa (by B Webb). Pitches-strikes: C Zambrano 85-54; C Marmol 28-17; B Howry 13-9; B Webb 89-58; B Lyon 8-6; J Valverde 14-9. Ground balls-fly balls: C Zambrano 7-3; C Marmol 0-1; B Howry 0-1; B Webb 8-4; B Lyon 1-2; J Valverde 1-1. Batters faced: C Zambrano 22; C Marmol 6; B Howry 3; B Webb 30; B Lyon 3; J Valverde 4. UMPIRES: HP--Ed Montague. 1B--Sam Holbrook. 2B--Greg Gibson. 3B--Mike Everitt. LF--Mike Reilly. RF--Mark Carlson. T--2:33. Att--48,864. Weather: 91 degrees, clear. Wind: 5 mph, out to center.</div>
Re: NL: CHICAGO CUBS (0-0) at ARIZONA (0-0) Cubs lose. Somehow I'm not surprised.</p> Shouldn't have pulled Zambrano.</p>
NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ARIZONA <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHICAGO CUBS (1) AT ARIZONA (3) - HOW THEY SCORED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ARIZONA 4TH: S Drew homered to right center. E Byrnes lined out to left. T Clark flied out to left. M Reynolds struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 1. CHICAGO CUBS 6TH: D Lee singled to left. A Ramirez struck out swinging, D Lee to second on wild pitch by B Webb. C Floyd lined out to right. M DeRosa walked. G Soto walked, D Lee to third, M DeRosa to second. R Theriot reached on infield single to shortstop, D Lee scored, M DeRosa to third, G Soto to second. C Zambrano struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 7TH: C Marmol relieved C Zambrano. M Reynolds homered to left center. J Salazar struck out looking. C Snyder walked. A Ojeda doubled to right, C Snyder to third. C Jackson hit for B Webb. C Jackson hit sacrifice fly to center, C Snyder scored. C Young struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 3.</div>
NL: CHICAGO CUBS at ARIZONA <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHICAGO CUBS (1) AT ARIZONA (3) - EVENT LOG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chicago Cubs Starting Lineups -- A Soriano LF, J Jones CF, D Lee 1B, A Ramirez 3B, C Floyd RF, M DeRosa 2B, G Soto C, R Theriot SS, C Zambrano RHP. Arizona Starting Lineups -- C Young CF, S Drew SS, E Byrnes LF, T Clark 1B, M Reynolds 3B, J Salazar RF, C Snyder C, A Ojeda 2B, B Webb RHP. Umpires -- Ed Montague (HP), Sam Holbrook (1B), Greg Gibson (2B), Mike Everitt (3B), Mike Reilly (LF), Mark Carlson (RF). Gametime Weather: 91 degrees, Clear, wind out to center at 5 mph. CHICAGO CUBS 1ST: A Soriano grounded out to third. J Jones walked. D Lee struck out swinging. A Ramirez grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 0. ARIZONA 1ST: C Young singled to center. C Young stole second. S Drew struck out looking. E Byrnes grounded out to shortstop, C Young to third. T Clark struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 0. CHICAGO CUBS 2ND: C Floyd struck out swinging. M DeRosa singled to right. G Soto grounded out to third, M DeRosa to second. R Theriot grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 0. ARIZONA 2ND: M Reynolds grounded out to second. J Salazar walked. C Snyder grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, J Salazar out at second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 0. CHICAGO CUBS 3RD: C Zambrano doubled to left center. A Soriano struck out swinging. J Jones struck out swinging. D Lee struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 0. ARIZONA 3RD: A Ojeda grounded out to second. B Webb struck out looking. C Young struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 0. CHICAGO CUBS 4TH: A Ramirez flied out to right. C Floyd struck out looking. M DeRosa hit by pitch. G Soto grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 0. ARIZONA 4TH: S Drew homered to right center. E Byrnes lined out to left. T Clark flied out to left. M Reynolds struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 1. CHICAGO CUBS 5TH: R Theriot safe at second on throwing error by third baseman M Reynolds. C Zambrano lined out to shortstop. A Soriano flied out to center. J Jones grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 5TH: J Salazar grounded out to second. C Snyder struck out swinging. A Ojeda reached on infield single to shortstop. B Webb struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 0, ARIZONA 1. CHICAGO CUBS 6TH: D Lee singled to left. A Ramirez struck out swinging, D Lee to second on wild pitch by B Webb. C Floyd lined out to right. M DeRosa walked. G Soto walked, D Lee to third, M DeRosa to second. R Theriot reached on infield single to shortstop, D Lee scored, M DeRosa to third, G Soto to second. C Zambrano struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 6TH: C Young struck out looking. S Drew singled to left. E Byrnes flied out to right. T Clark grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 1. CHICAGO CUBS 7TH: A Soriano grounded out to pitcher. J Jones grounded out to first. D Lee struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 1. ARIZONA 7TH: C Marmol relieved C Zambrano. M Reynolds homered to left center. J Salazar struck out looking. C Snyder walked. A Ojeda doubled to right, C Snyder to third. C Jackson hit for B Webb. C Jackson hit sacrifice fly to center, C Snyder scored. C Young struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 3. CHICAGO CUBS 8TH: B Lyon relieved B Webb. A Ramirez flied out to right. C Floyd lined out to right. M DeRosa grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 3. ARIZONA 8TH: B Howry relieved C Marmol. S Drew struck out swinging. E Byrnes struck out swinging. T Clark flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 3. CHICAGO CUBS 9TH: J Valverde relieved B Lyon. G Soto flied out to center. R Theriot struck out swinging. D Ward hit for B Howry. D Ward walked. R Cedeno ran for D Ward. A Soriano grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, R Cedeno out at second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHICAGO CUBS 1, ARIZONA 3.</div>
Webb outduels Zambrano, Reynolds homers as D-Backs strike first <h3>ARIZONA 3, CHI CUBS 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Rookie Mark Reynolds hit a go-ahead homerin the seventh inning and Brandon Webb pitched seven strongframes to outlast Carlos Zambrano and lift the ArizonaDiamondbacks to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the firstgame of the best-of-five National League Division Series onWednesday. Stephen Drew also homered for the Diamondbacks, who host GameTwo on Thursday. Offense was a concern for Arizona (90-72), which became thefirst team since the 1906 Chicago White Sox to have the bestrecord in the league despite the worst batting average (.250),but they found just enough against the Cubs' bullpen. Reynolds, who started the season in Class AA, snapped a 1-1 tiewhen he deposited a 2-1 fastball right down the middle of theplate from Carlos Marmol (0-1) into the left-center field seatsfor a 2-1 lead. It was the 18th home run in the majors thisyear for Reynolds, who joined the team in mid-May when regularthird baseman Chad Tracy got hurt. Arizona scratched out another run against Marmol, the electricreliever who entered having yielded just two runs in his last 25innings. Chris Snyder drew a walk and advanced to third whenformer Cub Augie Ojeda lined a double into the right fieldcorner. Conor Jackson then hit for Webb and lifted a sacrificefly to medium center field for a 3-1 lead. The game between the fellow 18-game winners was scoreless untilDrew - who had 12 homers during the regular season - led off thefourth inning by blasting a 1-0 fastball 432 feet into theright-center field seats. Drew had another big homer against the Cubs, an eighth-inningblast off Bobby Howry on July 21 that started a streak of 21wins in 28 games and vaulted the Diamondbacks from third tofirst in the National League West. Webb (1-0), who posted a franchise-record 42 consecutivescoreless innings during the season, bent but didn't break untilthe sixth. He yielded a leadoff line single to left by DerrekLee, who advanced to second base on a wild pitch when AramisRamirez struck out. After another out, walks to Mark DeRosa and Geovany Soto loadedthe bases for rookie Ryan Theriot, who bounced Webb's sinkerover the head of Reynolds at third, allowing Lee to score andtie the game at 1-1. But Webb struck out Zambrano to avoidfurther damage. The sinkerballer tossed his only perfect inning in the seventhbefore departing. The righthander allowed four hits and threewalks with nine strikeouts and allowed baserunners in each ofthe first six frames. Webb surrendered a leadoff double by Zambrano in the third butstruck out the next three hitters. He also worked around aleadoff two-base throwing error by Reynolds in the fifth. Brandon Lyon tossed a perfect eighth and closer Jose Valverdelogged the ninth for the save. Valverded led the majors with 47this season. Zambrano, who finished the campaign with 13 scoreless innings inwinning his last two regular-season starts, was almost as goodagainst the Diamondbacks. The emotional righthander yielded just a leadoff single in thefirst to Chris Young and a second-inning walk to Jeff Salazarbefore Drew got him in the fourth. He retired eight of the next10 batters and departed after six innings, yielding a run, fourhits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
Webb outduels Zambrano, Reynolds homers as D-Backs strike first <h3>ARIZONA 3, CHI CUBS 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Rookie Mark Reynolds hit a go-ahead homerin the seventh inning and Brandon Webb pitched seven strongframes to outlast Carlos Zambrano and lift the ArizonaDiamondbacks to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the firstgame of the best-of-five National League Division Series onWednesday. Stephen Drew, a 24-year-old in his first full season, alsohomered for the Diamondbacks, who host Game Two on Thursday. Offense was a concern for Arizona (90-72), which became thefirst team since the 1906 Chicago White Sox to have the bestrecord in the league despite the worst batting average (.250),but they found just enough against the Cubs' bullpen. The 24-year-old Reynolds, who started the season in Class AA,snapped a 1-1 tie when he deposited a 2-1 fastball right downthe middle of the plate from Carlos Marmol (0-1) into theleft-center field seats for a 2-1 lead. He helped atone for histwo-base throwing error two frames earlier. "Good to see him put that throwing error behind him," Arizonamanager Bob Melvin said. "We've seen enough of Mark over theseason to know he's just going to play his game. He playedflawless all season." It was the 18th home run in the majors this year for Reynolds,who joined the team in mid-May when regular third baseman ChadTracy got hurt. Arizona scratched out another run against Marmol, the electricreliever who entered having yielded just two runs in his last 25innings. "I took a shot with our bullpen, it didn't work today," Cubsmanager Lou Piniella said. "They did a good job all year, theydidn't get it done today, end of story, period." After Reynolds' blast, Chris Snyder drew a walk and advanced tothird when former Cub Augie Ojeda lined a double into the rightfield corner. Conor Jackson then hit for Webb and lifted asacrifice fly to medium center field for a 3-1 lead. The game between the fellow 18-game winners was scoreless untilDrew led off the fourth inning by blasting a 1-0 fastball 432feet into the right-center field seats. Drew had another big homer against the Cubs, an eighth-inningblast off Bobby Howry on July 21 that started a streak of 21wins in 28 games and vaulted the Diamondbacks from third tofirst in the National League West. Webb (1-0), who posted a franchise-record 42 consecutivescoreless innings during the season, bent but didn't break untilthe sixth. The longest tenured active D-Back at five years,Webb yielded a leadoff line single to left by Derrek Lee, whoadvanced to second base on a wild pitch when Aramis Ramirezstruck out. After another out, walks to Mark DeRosa and Geovany Soto loadedthe bases for rookie Ryan Theriot, who bounced Webb's sinkerover the head of Reynolds at third, allowing Lee to score andtie the game at 1-1. But Webb struck out Zambrano to avoidfurther damage. "We had some good at-bats, just didn't take advantage," Piniellasaid. "We hit a few balls hard. What are you going to do.It's the only the first game. Let's not get down." The sinkerballer tossed his only perfect inning in the seventhbefore departing. The righthander allowed four hits and threewalks with nine strikeouts and allowed baserunners in each ofthe first six frames. "Very exciting, the most exciting game I've pitched so far (inmy career)," Webb said. "I kept them off-balance and guys playedgreat defense behind me. ... I had to grind it out. I gave upa leadoff double a couple of times and just had to bare down. Webb surrendered a leadoff double to Zambrano in the third butstruck out the next three hitters. He also worked around aleadoff two-base throwing error by Reynolds in the fifth. "He's always one pitch away," Melvin said. "He had goodsecondary stuff tonight. He lost his command for a few batters,but regained it. He had a good sinker and knows how to use hisbreaking ball." Brandon Lyon tossed a perfect eighth and closer Jose Valverdeworked around a two-out walk to log the save. Valverde led themajors with 47 this season. Zambrano, who finished the campaign with 13 scoreless innings inwinning his last two regular-season starts, was almost as goodagainst the Diamondbacks. The emotional righthander yielded just a leadoff single in thefirst to Chris Young and a second-inning walk to Jeff Salazarbefore Drew got him in the fourth. He retired eight of the next10 batters and departed after six innings, yielding a run, fourhits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
Webb outduels Zambrano, Reynolds homers as D-Backs strike first <h3>ARIZONA 3, CHI CUBS 1</h3>PHOENIX (Ticker) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks knew what toexpect from Brandon Webb. But it was a rookie who provided themagic. Mark Reynolds hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning andWebb pitched seven strong frames to outlast Carlos Zambrano andlift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 3-1 victory over the ChicagoCubs in the first game of the best-of-five National LeagueDivision Series on Wednesday. Stephen Drew, a 24-year-old in his first full season, alsohomered for the Diamondbacks, who host Game Two on Thursday. "It is always nice to get the first one," Arizona manager BobMelvin said. "You have your ace on the mound you expect to winthat game especially at home. It's a game that there wasprobably a little more pressure on us to win than them. We'reat home we have Webby on the mound it can be a little deflatingif you ace goes out there and loses the first one at home." Offense was a concern for Arizona (90-72), which became thefirst team since the 1906 Chicago White Sox to have the bestrecord in the league despite the worst batting average (.250),but they found just enough against the Cubs' bullpen. The 24-year-old Reynolds, who started the season in Class AA,snapped a 1-1 tie when he deposited a 2-1 fastball right downthe middle of the plate from Carlos Marmol (0-1) into theleft-center field seats for a 2-1 lead. "I am usually at home watching TV at this time," Reynolds said."It is an unbelievable feeling being here and being part ofthis. I hope to keep the magic going." "It's always nice to be able to get a couple off (Marmol), forthe most part he has been unhittable," Melvin said. "Hisnumbers are video game numbers with the strikeouts." It was the 18th home run in the majors this year for Reynolds,who joined the team in mid-May when regular third baseman ChadTracy got hurt. The homer helped atone for his two-basethrowing error two frames earlier. "Good to see him put that throwing error behind him," Melvinsaid. "We've seen enough of Mark over the season to know he'sjust going to play his game. He played flawless all season." Arizona scratched out another run against Marmol, the electricreliever who entered having yielded just two runs in his last 25innings and "I didn't make good pitches," Marmol said. "I have been decentall year long. I don't know what is going on. My mechanics area little different. This is one day. One day you do good andone day you do bad. This was a day I did bad." "I took a shot with our bullpen, it didn't work today," a testyCubs manager Lou Piniella said. "They did a good job all year,they didn't get it done today, end of story, period." After Reynolds' blast, Chris Snyder drew a walk and advanced tothird when former Cub Augie Ojeda lined a double into the rightfield corner. Conor Jackson then hit for Webb and lifted asacrifice fly to medium center field for a 3-1 lead. The game between the fellow 18-game winners was scoreless untilDrew led off the fourth inning by blasting a 1-0 fastball 432feet into the right-center field seats. "The first time up against him was the first time I ever facedhim," Drew said. "Coming into the second at-bat I felt littlemore relaxed. I just tried to get on base and let the big guysdo their job." Drew had another big homer against the Cubs, an eighth-inningblast off Bobby Howry on July 21 that started a streak of 21wins in 28 games and vaulted the Diamondbacks from third tofirst in the National League West. Webb (1-0), who posted a franchise-record 42 consecutivescoreless innings during the season, bent but didn't break untilthe sixth. The longest tenured active D-Back at five years, Webb yielded aleadoff line single to left by Derrek Lee, who advanced tosecond base on a wild pitch when Aramis Ramirez struck out. After another out, walks to Mark DeRosa and Geovany Soto loadedthe bases for rookie Ryan Theriot, who bounced Webb's sinkerover the head of Reynolds at third, allowing Lee to score andtie the game at 1-1. But Webb struck out Zambrano to avoidfurther damage. "We had some good at-bats, just didn't take advantage," Piniellasaid. "We hit a few balls hard. What are you going to do. It'sthe only the first game. Let's not get down." Webb tossed his only perfect inning in the seventh beforedeparting. The righthander allowed four hits and three walkswith nine strikeouts and allowed baserunners in each of thefirst six frames. "Very exciting, the most exciting game I've pitched so far (inmy career)," Webb said. "He's always one pitch away," Melvin said. "He had goodsecondary stuff tonight. He lost his command for a few batters,but regained it. He had a good sinker and knows how to use hisbreaking ball." Webb surrendered a leadoff double to Zambrano in the third butstruck out the next three hitters. He also worked around aleadoff two-base throwing error by Reynolds in the fifth. "My offspeed pitches were as good as I've had them probably thisyear, a lot of good changeups and curve balls," Webb said. "Forsome of the big hitters I was just trying to execute pitchesand get ahead, and I was able to do that. That's where the bigouts came from especially the leadoff double to Zambrano in thethird. I was able to strike out the side and used a lot ofoffspeed pitches to get strikeouts." Brandon Lyon tossed a perfect eighth and closer Jose Valverdeworked around a two-out walk to log the save. Valverde led themajors with 47 this season. Zambrano, who finished the campaign with 13 scoreless innings inwinning his last two regular-season starts, was almost as goodagainst the Diamondbacks. The emotional righthander yielded just a leadoff single in thefirst to Chris Young and a second-inning walk to Jeff Salazarbefore Drew got him in the fourth. He retired eight of the next10 batters and departed after six innings, yielding a run, fourhits and a walk with eight strikeouts. "(Piniella) told me that, that was enough and he took me out,"Zambrano said. "I wasn't surprised. I tried to talk him out ofit, I told him to let me pitch one more inning. He told me thatwas enough and he is the manager. "You know me. I want to pitch every game 120 pitches. But itis better like this because now I will pitch on Sunday. Wehave a good bullpen so let the bullpen do their job." After thegame, Piniella announced that Zambrano would pitch Sunday inGame Four on three days rest.
