In a weekend of reversals, Carlos Zambrano lost while Mark Prior won, and the umpires changed a few calls.
Zambrano was soundly defeated on Friday, snapping a nine-game winning streak. Mark Prior, previously winless on the season, won on the next day, giving up just five hits while striking out three over 5 and 2/3 innings.
Zambrano, who has declared himself the 2006 Cy Young winner, said he has sympathy for Prior.
“I’m trying to have the best season of my career,” said Zambrano. “And this guy is just trying to catch Glendon Rusch and Rich Hill for bragging rights. Everyone knows we can’t beat a last place team twice in a row, so I had to lose a game so Mark could win one.”
Prior did win his game, and on Sunday, Rich Hill bested his teammate to claim his second victory. Hill threw seven strong innings, striking out nine and giving up just one earned run. The game ended when reliever Ryan Dempster threw a pitch that was hit in fair ground and then appeared to strike the batter in fair territory. The base runner was called out on the dubious play and the contest ended.
“It wasn’t a save situation,” said Dempster. “But I’m just glad I didn’t ruin it. A fifth place team losing to a sixth place team? Now that would have been awful.”
Number of the Day: 345
Times Bob and Len mentioned going to Lollapalooza over the weekend.
Number of the Day Part II: 0
Fans who were impressed by Bob and Len going to Lollapalooza.
