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Zambrano looks to rebound against Reds

Aug 21, 2008 - 10:17 AM Cincinnati (56-71) at Chi Cubs (77-49) 2:20 p.m. EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago Cubs had their best three starting pitchers lined up for their series with the Cincinnati Reds. The first two have done their jobs; now it's Carlos Zambrano's turn.

Despite splitting the first two games, the Cubs have gotten exactly what they've needed from their hurlers. Rich Harden struck out 10 over seven innings of two-hit ball on Tuesday. Ted Lilly followed that with seven strong innings of his own on Wednesday, though the Chicago offense managed one run and three hits in a 2-1 defeat.

For Zambrano (12-5, 3.38 ERA) to match his teammates' performance, he'll have to reverse his fortunes in the month of August. He hasn't won a game this month, and is coming off back-to-back disastrous showings. On August 9 against the St. Louis Cardinals, he didn't even get out of the fifth inning, getting hammered for 10 hits and nine runs en route to a 12-3 blowout loss. Six days later, he gave up five runs in six innings but took a no-decision against the Florida Marlins.

Those recent troubles mirror his 2007 campaign. After showing Cy Young-quality stuff in June and July last year, he dropped four starts in a row in August, as his ERA rose from 3.42 to 4.35 in a single month.

Facing the Reds may be the ticket for Zambrano. He has dominated them, picking up three impressive victories, going at least seven innings in all three starts. Most recently, he gave up one hit - a second-inning home run by the now-departed Adam Dunn - over eight innings of work in a 5-1 victory on July 9.

Facing off against Zambrano will be Cincinnati righthander Josh Fogg (2-5, 7.71), who has struggled. He has given up 10 combined runs in 8 2/3 innings over his last two starts.

The one time he faced the Cubs was one of his worst outings, as he lasted two innings in an April 16 loss, yielding nine earned runs before getting yanked.