GAME THREAD: NL: SAN DIEGO (38-28) at CHICAGO CUBS (31-35)

NL: SAN DIEGO at CHICAGO CUBS

<div class="pre">NL AT CHICAGO CUBS - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Jones hit for C Izturis.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 1
CHICAGO CUBS 0 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: J Jones (.230, 2 HR, 19 RBI)</div>

 

NL: SAN DIEGO at CHICAGO CUBS

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SAN DIEGO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: SDG - CHRIS YOUNG, JUSTIN HAMPSON (4TH), HEATH BELL (7TH), TREVOR
HOFFMAN (9TH) AND ROB BOWEN

CHN - CARLOS ZAMBRANO AND KOYIE HILL

HOME RUNS: SDG - RUSSELL BRANYAN (5) OFF CARLOS ZAMBRANO IN THE 9TH, 0 ON

CHN - NONE</div>

 

NL: SAN DIEGO at CHICAGO CUBS

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SAN DIEGO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0
CHICAGO CUBS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: SDG - CHRIS YOUNG, JUSTIN HAMPSON (4TH), HEATH BELL (7TH), TREVOR
HOFFMAN (9TH) AND ROB BOWEN

CHN - CARLOS ZAMBRANO AND KOYIE HILL


WP - HEATH BELL (1-2)
LP - CARLOS ZAMBRANO (7-6)
SAVE - TREVOR HOFFMAN (19)

HOME RUNS: SDG - RUSSELL BRANYAN (5) OFF CARLOS ZAMBRANO IN THE 9TH, 0 ON

CHN - NONE


TIME: 2:33 ATT: 41,632

PROBABLES: SDG - GREG MADDUX (5-3, 3.86)
CHN - RICH HILL (5-4, 2.81)</div>

 

NL: SAN DIEGO at CHICAGO CUBS

<div class="pre">SAN DIEGO (1) VS CHICAGO CUBS (0) - FINAL

SAN DIEGO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
M Giles 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .267
T Sledge rf-lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .221
A Gonzalez 1b 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 .287
R Branyan lf-3b 4 1 1 1 0 0 3 .230
K Greene ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .225
H Bocachica cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .206
C Headley 3b 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000
H Bell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Hoffman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Bowen c 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 .256
C Young p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .091
J Hampson p 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000
J Cruz Jr rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .270

Totals 28 1 2 1 5 6 9

BATTING: HR - R Branyan (5, 9th inning off C Zambrano 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - R
Branyan (15). GIDP - J Hampson, R Branyan, T Sledge. Team LOB - 5.

FIELDING: Outfield assists - H Bocachica (R Theriot at Home). PB - R Bowen.
DP: 2 (A Gonzalez-K Greene-A Gonzalez, H Bocachica-R Bowen).


CHICAGO CUBS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Soriano lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .295
F Pie cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .248
D Lee 1b 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .342
C Izturis pr-ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .252
a-J Jones ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .229
C Floyd rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .312
M DeRosa 3b-1b 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .277
M Fontenot 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .367
R Theriot ss-3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .268
K Hill c 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 .160
C Zambrano p 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .273

Totals 27 0 2 0 2 7 8

a-flied out to left for C Izturis in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - M DeRosa (13, J Hampson); R Theriot (10, J Hampson). Runners left
in scoring position, 2 out - K Hill 1, M Fontenot 1. GIDP - C Floyd. Team LOB -
3.

BASERUNNING: SB - R Theriot (12, 3rd base off J Hampson/R Bowen).

FIELDING: E - R Theriot (3, ground ball); M DeRosa (4, ground ball). DP: 3 (C
Izturis-M DeRosa, M Fontenot-C Izturis-M DeRosa 2).


----------------------------------------------------
SAN DIEGO - 000 000 001 -- 1
CHICAGO CUBS - 000 000 000 -- 0
----------------------------------------------------

SAN DIEGO ip h r er bb so hr era
C Young 3 0 0 0 2 2 0 2.26
J Hampson 3 1/3 2 0 0 0 2 0 0.81
H Bell (W, 1-2) 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 3 0 1.13
T Hoffman (S, 19) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.08

CHICAGO CUBS ip h r er bb so hr era
C Zambrano (L, 7-6) 9 2 1 1 5 6 1 4.53

C Young pitched to 1 batter in the 4th.

IBB - A Gonzalez (by C Zambrano). HBP - D Lee (by C Young). Pitches-strikes:
C Young 56-36; J Hampson 33-22; H Bell 24-17; T Hoffman 11-7; C Zambrano
123-75. Ground balls-fly balls: C Young 4-3; J Hampson 3-4; H Bell 2-0; T
Hoffman 2-1; C Zambrano 12-9. Batters faced: C Young 12; J Hampson 10; H Bell
5; T Hoffman 3; C Zambrano 33.

UMPIRES: HP--Mike Everitt. 1B--Paul Nauert. 2B--Gerry Davis. 3B--Brian
Gorman.
EJECTIONS: CHICAGO CUBS' Lee by Everitt (4th), SAN DIEGO's Young by Everitt (4th), SAN DIEGO's Peavy by Everitt (4th), CHICAGO CUBS' Perry by Everitt (4th).
T--2:33. Att--41,632.
Weather: 89 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 6 mph, left
to right.</div>

 

NL: SAN DIEGO at CHICAGO CUBS

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NL
SAN DIEGO 1
CHICAGO CUBS 0 FINAL</div>

 

NL: SAN DIEGO at CHICAGO CUBS

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SAN DIEGO (1) AT CHICAGO CUBS (0) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SAN DIEGO 9TH: A Gonzalez popped out to pitcher. R Branyan homered to left
center. K Greene grounded out to second. H Bocachica popped out to second.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 1, CHICAGO CUBS 0.</div>

 

NL: SAN DIEGO at CHICAGO CUBS

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SAN DIEGO (1) AT CHICAGO CUBS (0) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

San Diego Starting Lineups -- M Giles 2B, T Sledge RF, A Gonzalez 1B, R Branyan LF,
K Greene SS, H Bocachica CF, C Headley 3B, R Bowen C, C Young RHP.

Chicago Cubs Starting Lineups -- A Soriano LF, F Pie CF, D Lee 1B, C Floyd RF,
M DeRosa 3B, M Fontenot 2B, R Theriot SS, K Hill C, C Zambrano RHP.

Umpires -- Mike Everitt (HP), Paul Nauert (1B), Gerry Davis (2B), Brian Gorman (3B).

Gametime Weather: 89 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind left to right at 6 mph.


SAN DIEGO 1ST: M Giles struck out swinging. T Sledge grounded out to
first. A Gonzalez walked. R Branyan flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 1ST: A Soriano struck out swinging. F Pie grounded out to
shortstop. D Lee walked. C Floyd flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

SAN DIEGO 2ND: K Greene lined out to first. H Bocachica flied out to
right. C Headley lined out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 0,
CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 2ND: M DeRosa walked. M DeRosa to second on passed ball by
R Bowen. M Fontenot lined out to left. R Theriot grounded out to shortstop.
K Hill flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

SAN DIEGO 3RD: R Bowen struck out swinging. C Young flied out to center.
M Giles grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 0,
CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 3RD: C Zambrano grounded out to second. A Soriano grounded
out to catcher. F Pie struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

SAN DIEGO 4TH: T Sledge struck out looking. A Gonzalez struck out
swinging. R Branyan grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 4TH: D Lee hit by pitch. J Hampson relieved C Young. C Izturis
ran for D Lee. San Diego's C Young and J Peavy ejected by M Everitt. Chicago's
D Lee and coach G Perry ejected by M Everitt. C Floyd grounded into double play,
first to shortstop to first, C Izturis out at second. M DeRosa doubled to deep
left center. M Fontenot grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

SAN DIEGO 5TH: C Izturis at shortstop. M DeRosa at first base. R Theriot at
third base. K Greene lined out to right. H Bocachica safe at second on error
by third baseman R Theriot. C Headley walked. R Bowen walked, H Bocachica to
third, C Headley to second. J Hampson grounded into double play, shortstop to
first, R Bowen out at second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) SAN DIEGO 0,
CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 5TH: R Theriot doubled to deep right. K Hill struck out
looking, R Theriot stole third. C Zambrano flied out to center, R Theriot
thrown out at home. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

SAN DIEGO 6TH: M Giles safe at second on error by first baseman M DeRosa.
T Sledge grounded out to first, M Giles to third. A Gonzalez intentionally
walked. R Branyan grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first,
A Gonzalez out at second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 6TH: A Soriano popped out to second. F Pie flied out to
right. C Izturis struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 0,
CHICAGO CUBS 0.

SAN DIEGO 7TH: K Greene flied out to center. H Bocachica grounded out
to pitcher. C Headley struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 7TH: C Floyd popped out to third. T Sledge in left field.
R Branyan at third base. H Bell relieved J Hampson. J Cruz Jr in right field.
M DeRosa grounded out to first. M Fontenot struck out swinging. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

SAN DIEGO 8TH: R Bowen walked. J Cruz Jr struck out swinging. M Giles
reached on infield single to second, R Bowen to second. T Sledge grounded
into double play, second to shortstop to first, M Giles out at second. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 8TH: R Theriot grounded out to second. K Hill struck out
swinging. C Zambrano struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
SAN DIEGO 0, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

SAN DIEGO 9TH: A Gonzalez popped out to pitcher. R Branyan homered to left
center. K Greene grounded out to second. H Bocachica popped out to second.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 1, CHICAGO CUBS 0.

CHICAGO CUBS 9TH: T Hoffman relieved H Bell. A Soriano grounded out to
shortstop. F Pie grounded out to shortstop. J Jones hit for C Izturis.
J Jones flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN DIEGO 1,
CHICAGO CUBS 0.</div>

 

Zambrano loses no-hit bid, game to Padres

<h3>SAN DIEGO 1, CHICAGO CUBS 0</h3>CHICAGO (Ticker) - Chicago Cubs righthander Carlos Zambrano cameclose to pitching a no-hitter, but wound up taking the lossinstead.

Russell Branyan homered in the top of the ninth inning to leadthe San Diego Padres to a 1-0 victory over the Cubs on Saturday,snapping Chicago's three-game winning streak.

Branyan hit a 3-2 pitch off Zambrano with one out over the leftfield fence for the lone run of the game. Zambrano's no-hit bidwas broken up in the eighth when Marcus Giles hit a grounder upthe middle that deflected off Zambrano's glove. Giles reachedfirst without a throw, ending Zambrano's bid at history.

The Cubs have had 14 no-hitters in their history, the last byMilt Pappas in 1972.

Zambrano (7-6) went the distance for the first time since 2005.He allowed only two hits, striking out six and walking five.

Heath Bell (1-2) picked up the win for the Padres, pitching 12/3 innings with three strikeouts.

San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman needed just 11 pitches to closeout the game in the ninth inning to earn his 19th save.

The wild game also featured a benches-clearing brawl in thebottom of the fourth inning. The incident was touched off whenPadres starter Chris Young hit Cubs first baseman Derrek Leewith a pitch near his head and surgically-repaired wrist. Thetwo met near the first base line, and Lee threw a punch at therighthander, who in turn threw a punch at Lee.

Cubs hitting coach Gerald Perry and Padres righthander JakePeavy were also ejected by home plate umpire Mike Everitt fortaking part in the altercation.

The Cubs made a pair of errors behind Zambrano during hishitless stretch. With one out in the top fifth inning, Cubsthird baseman Ryan Theriot was unable to handle grounder off thebat of Hiram Bocachica.

To lead off the sixth, Giles looked to have the first hit forthe Padres after drilling a smash past the glove of Mark DeRosa,who took a step to his left, at first base. But the officialscorer made the questionable ruling of an error.

Both Theriot and DeRosa were playing different positions thanthey started the game at due to ejection of Lee.

Zambrano was attempting to join Mark Buehrle of the ChicagoWhite Sox and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers as pitchersto throw no-hitters this season.

 

Zambrano loses no-hit bid, game to Padres

<h3>SAN DIEGO 1, CHICAGO CUBS 0</h3>CHICAGO (Ticker) - Chicago Cubs righthander Carlos Zambrano cameclose to pitching a no-hitter, but wound up taking the lossinstead.

Russell Branyan homered in the top of the ninth inning to leadthe San Diego Padres to a 1-0 victory over the Cubs on Saturday.Branyan hit a 3-2 pitch off Zambrano with one out over the leftfield fence for his fifth homer of the season.

"Actually I was thinking home run there," Branyan said. "He wasso dominant all day. I was hoping he would make a mistake andleave one up, I was really trying to barrel up something."

Zambrano's no-hit bid was broken up with one out in the eighth<div class="pre">when Marcus Giles hit a grounder up the middle that deflected</div><div class="pre">off Zambrano's glove. Giles reached first without a throw,</div><div class="pre">ending Zambrano's bid at history.</div>

"He (Zambrano) pitched really well," Cubs manager Lou Piniellasaid. "He had a no-hitter for seven plus innings and gave uponly one run, he deserved better."

The Cubs have had 14 no-hitters in their history, the last byMilt Pappas in 1972.

Zambrano (7-6) went the distance for the first time since 2005.He allowed only two hits, striking out six and walking five.

"I have been pitching good and today I continued that," Zambranosaid. "Nothing we could do but move on to tomorrow and try totake two out of three."

Heath Bell (1-2) picked up the win for the Padres, pitching 12/3 innings with three strikeouts.

San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman needed just 11 pitches to closeout the game in the ninth inning to earn his 19th save of theseason, and 499th save as a Padre.

"They're all very special," Hoffman said. "It really points tolongevity and trying to be consistent."

The wild game also featured a benches-clearing brawl in thebottom of the fourth inning. The incident was touched off whenPadres starter Chris Young hit Cubs first baseman Derrek Leewith a pitch near his head and surgically-repaired wrist. Thetwo met near the first base line, and Lee threw a punch at therighthander, who in turn threw a punch at Lee.

"I don't like anybody throwing at my head," Lee said. "I believethat is what he did. I then reacted to our brief conversation,which will stay between him (Young) and I."

Young denied throwing at Lee.

"I will say this I didn't throw at him, and I didn't tryto hit him," Young said. "It had nothing to do with anything fromthe past, it was just a pitch that got away."

Cubs hitting coach Gerald Perry and Padres righthander JakePeavy were also ejected by plate umpire Mike Everitt fortaking part in the altercation.

"We felt (umpiring crew) that both of those individuals werefighting, not breaking things up," umpire crew chief GerryDavis said. "After reviewing the video we feel we made theright call, there will not be anymore penalties."

The Cubs made a pair of errors behind Zambrano during hishitless stretch. With one out in the top fifth inning, Cubsthird baseman Ryan Theriot was unable to handle grounder off thebat of Hiram Bocachica.

To lead off the sixth, Giles looked to have the first hit forthe Padres after drilling a smash past the glove of Mark DeRosa,who took a step to his left, at first base. But the officialscorer made the questionable ruling of an error.

Both Theriot and DeRosa were playing different positions thanthey started the game at due to ejection of Lee.

Zambrano was attempting to join Mark Buehrle of the ChicagoWhite Sox and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers as pitchersto throw no-hitters this season.

"I was aware I had a no-hitter in the seventh inning," Zambranosaid. "Some things happened that were out of my control. I willjust move on to my next start."