No Hitter

Carlos Zambrano pitched a no hitter yesterday in the Chicago Cubs win over the Houston Astros.

"I'm a little confused right now," Zambrano said. "I still can't
believe
it. It's a great feeling, and it's a feeling that you can't describe. To
throw a no-hitter is good, man. This is one of the few things in baseball
that
you most enjoy."

Because of the hurricane, the game was played at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Miller Park, closer to Chicago than Houston, brought out many Cubs fans to the game. The game was more of a home game for the Cubs, even though they were the away team.

Prior to yesterday, Zambrano did not pitch in 12 days. He missed a couple starts, including one against the Phillies. Zambrano was experiencing a "dead arm" period.

His arm was alive Sunday as it came back from the dead.

"He had everything going," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "From the first few
pitches of the ballgame, you knew his arm was live and the ball was coming out
easy. It had good movement on it. He located for the most part the whole
ballgame, and he used his split-finger and slider to keep the hitters honest. It
was just a great game, and we needed that. He had been struggling. To do this,
it's special. I'm very happy for him."

Zambrano was one batter away from a perfect game. He allowed just one walk. He also struck out 10 batters.

Zambrano's no hitter became the Cub's first no hitter since 1972.

Zambrano's no hitter was the second no hitter in MLB this year. The last was on May 19th when Jon Lester, a cancer survivor, threw a no hitter against the Kansas City Royals.

QUOTE SOURCE: MLB.com