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Signs of the Impending [like, May 10th] Apocalypse. As kishi noted, the Cubs owners announced today that they will be offering $3 beers in the Wrigley Field bleachers on Tuesday games, starting with the May 10th game against the St. Louis Cardinals. One has to wonder what other suggestions the owners might have. Equipping all Chicago fire-engines with flammable chemicals with which they can douse fires? Bringing peace to the Middle East by ensuring every nation has equal access to nuclear weapons? Even Al of BCB said , "This will not end well," and given the long history of incidents in the bleacers, it's hard to argue with that.
Meanwhile, let's just have more of the same as last night, shall we?
- Chris Young CF
- Kelly Johnson 2B
- Justin Upton RF
- Stephen Drew SS
- Miguel Montero C
- Melvin Mora 3B
- Russell Branyan 1B
- Gerardo Parra LF
- Armando Galarraga RHP
Given Zambrano has been with the Cubs the whole time,. I was surprised to see that tonight will be only the second time we've faced him as a starter in the past six years: he beat us in April 2009, but the time before that was back at the start of 2005. That's the regular season of course: he came to Chase for Game One of the 2007 NLDS, and was pulled after six innings to keep him fresh for later in the post-season. That worked out well. :-) It'll be his sixth start versus the Diamondbacks - curiously, all six have been at Chase. The only time he appeared against us in Chicago was when he was working out of the bullpen early last year.
Surprised to see Branyan in the line-up, as Zambrano has basically pwned him: lifetime, the Muscle is 5-for-35 with zero walks and 16 strikeouts. Compare Xavier Nady, who is 8-for-25, with an OPS more than twice that of Branyan. Kelly Johnson is the only other D-back with more than six at-bats in the regular season off Zambrano. Marlon Byrd (4-for-12) and Carlos Peña (2-for-7) are the only Cubs similarly experienced against Galarraga. But if we score seven in the first inning again, it probably won't matter....