The Houston Astros were forced to travel to Milwaukee to play a “home” series against the Chicago Cubs after Hurricane Ike slammed the Texas coast and damaged their stadium. In Milwaukee, they ran into another force named Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly.
Zambrano (14-5) was on the mound for the first time since September 2 and hurled a no-hitter against the jet-lagged Astros while striking out 10 and walking only one in a 5-0 victory on Sunday.
Zambrano, one of the best hitting pitchers in MLB who is batting .354 with 9 extra-base hits and 14 RBI, outhit the entire Astros line-up after going 1 for 3 and crossing the plate once in that game.
Things didn’t get much better for the Astros on Monday when they ran into a similar scenario with Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly on the bump. Lilly (15-9) mowed through the hapless Astros line-up taking a no-hit bid into the 7th inning. Fifteen innings into the series and the Astros had been held hitless. Lilly gave up a hit to the lead-off hitter in the 7th and was later pulled but not before racking up 9K’s and walking only one in the 6-1 win.
Overall the Astros were 1 for 48 for a .020 batting average and .062 OBP against the duo from the Windy City. The Astros hitters looked horribly out of synch both days and Lilly and Zambrano took advantage of it.
Zambrano’s no-hitter was the first by a Cub since 1972.
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