• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Zambrano baffles Dodgers as Cubs hold on

May 26, 2007 - 11:42 PM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- A date with the Los Angeles Dodgers apparently worked wonders for Carlos Zambrano.

Zambrano pitched into the eighth inning and Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa belted back-to-back home runs to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 4-2 triumph over the Dodgers on Saturday.

It was just the second victory in the last seven road games for the Cubs, whose overall struggles have coincided with Zambrano's shortcomings.

A two-time All-Star and Chicago's ace, Zambrano has yielded at least four earned runs in six different outings this season and entered Saturday's matinee contest with a 5.61 ERA.

"I have never thought of how my stats are different from pitching at home and on the road," Zambrano said. "I just try to do my best to pitch the way I know I can pitch."

The fiery Zambrano (5-4) always has fared well at Dodger Stadium and delivered another stellar performance Saturday, yielding two runs and eight hits in 7 2/3 innings. The Venezuelan righthander walked one and had eight strikeouts to improve to 2-1 lifetime against Los Angeles.

"I feel good," said Zambrano, who owns a 0.86 ERA in six career appearances at Dodger Stadium. "I have felt a lot better with the way I'm pitching lately in my last three starts. I get paid to win ballgames and not by ERA."

The Dodgers finally broke through against Zambrano in the seventh inning when Wilson Betemit belted his fifth homer of the season to cut the deficit to 4-1.

"That (ticked) me off," Zambrano said. "I wouldn't care if he got a strike but I attacked the zone with two strikes when I should have thrown a pitch in the dirt or out of the zone, that pissed me off."

Zambrano ran into trouble in the following frame, surrendering a two-out RBI single to Nomar Garciaparra and walking Russell Martin to load the bases. But lefthander Will Ohman struck out pinch-hitter Jeff Kent to rescue Zambrano and preserve the 4-2 cushion.

"Ohman came up big with that strikeout to get us out of the inning," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "I know we got good arms out there in the bullpen and I have no doubt in my mind that our pen will come around."

Despite the shaky eighth inning, Zambrano boasts a 1.86 ERA in nine career games - five starts - against the Dodgers.

"I never thought of how I pitch good against the Dodgers," Zambrano said. "I just go out and pitch my game and see what happens."

"(Zambrano) worked ahead in the count and threw strikes," Martin said. "He pitched a good game, and we just couldn't get it done."

Ryan Dempster worked around a pair of one-out singles in the ninth to record his 11th save.

Chicago took the lead for good in the second against Los Angeles starter Mark Hendrickson (2-2), who lost his second straight outing.

"I was in the zone all day, but I really had no movement with any of my pitches today, and it showed," Hendrickson said.

Ramirez opened the frame by hammering Hendrickson's first offering over the wall in right field for his 12th homer of the season. Two pitches later, DeRosa drilled his fifth blast of the campaign to make it 2-0.

"That's what we needed to do, which was put runs on the board early so we can have Carlos settle down and get into a good groove," DeRosa said. "I got a pitch out over the plate and just went with it and got enough wood on it to get it over the fence."

The Cubs tacked on two important insurance runs in the fourth. Matt Murton doubled with one out and scored on Henry Blanco's RBI single. Alfonso Soriano made it 4-0 three batters later, ripping a two-out RBI hit to left field.

Hendrickson tossed five innings, yielding four runs and nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Juan Pierre and Andre Ethier each had two hits for the Dodgers, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

"I didn't think (Hendrickson) pitched that bad at all," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "He just got hit by a good lineup, and we know that he will bounce back and give us a good start his next time out."