Zambrano Hits a Bomb in Win #100

Carlos Zambrano was pretty wild Friday in his 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, but he pitched well enough to earn his 100th career victory and managed not to piss off any umpires.

The Chicago Cubs righty lasted into the seventh inning, striking out seven batters and allowing two hits with a season-high five walks.

It took Zambrano three tries to reach the milestone since beating the Florida Marlins on May 3rd. After that, he spent 19 days on the disabled list with a left hamstring strain, then lost to the San Diego Padres before being suspended six games for a dust-up with plate umpire Mark Carlson on May 27th in Chicago. Then, he had to wait one more day after rain delayed his chance for victory #100 in Atlanta on Thursday.

Glad We Didn't Hold Our Breath on Maddux

Congratulations to future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux for finally getting enough run support to halt a career-worst 14-start winless skid with an 8-5 victory over Micah Owings and the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday night.

The 42-year-old San Diego Padres righty, who had gone 0-5 with 9 no-decisions since his 350th win on May 10th, passed up Hall of Famer Phil Niekro for 10th place on the all-time strikeout list. He fanned four and walked no one, scattering four runs on nine hits over five innings.

Man, he is getting way old.

[AP] | [Gaslamp Ball] | [Dugout Central]

Micah Owings Goes Yard, Keys Comeback

Micah Owings is not only an excellent pitcher, he also knows how to swing a bat.

The Arizona Diamondbacks hurler nailed an opposite-field, pinch-hit homer Wednesday in the sixth inning of his team's 8-7 victory over the Houston Astros. He smoked the first pitch he saw from reliever Dave Borkowski to tie it up at 7 before Chris Young followed him up with a double, going on to score the go-ahead run on an Eric Byrnes base hit.

One year after earning a silver-slugger award for hitting .333, Owings has raised his batting average to .421 (8-for-19) on the season. The 26-year-old righty has five career homers in 79 at bats over his two big league seasons, this marking his first pinch-hit bomb.

There's no doubt Owings is the best pitching hitter in the game these days, but his numbers on the hill aren't so bad, either: 4-0 with a 3.48 ERA in 2008.

Meanwhile, the 20-8 D'Backs became baseball's first 20-game winner, by racking up a franchise-best 19 April victories and winning eight of their last nine series. The lone loss? A split two-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not bad at all.

[Sports Network]

Micah Owings: Way to Go, Buddy!

Micah Owings had a pretty great night on the hill Tuesday. He also either got bitch-slapped or was forced to suck on Chris Snyder's fingers... not pleasant either way.

After having not lasted beyond the fourth inning in either of his last two starts, the rookie right-hander pitched a two-hit complete game shutout against the San Francisco Giants to keep his Arizona Diamondbacks at first place in the NL West.

Owings struck out four and walked one, allowing only three baserunners -- a walk and a single to Dave Roberts and a double by Pedro Feliz in the fifth. The 25-year-old hurler also doubled in the second for his ninth extra-base hit of the season.

Opposing pitcher Jonathan Sanchez? Not so awesome. He lasted just one inning after allowing four runs on 5 hits with 2 walks, retiring just one of the eight men he faced. Sanchez claimed he had thrown strikes in the bullpen before the game, but velocity was nowhere to be found, apparently a result of pain in his left oblique.

D'Backs centerfielder Chris Young hit a sac fly to lead off the scoring before the backstop, Snyder drove in two on a base hit to left. Augie Ojeda then singled to score Snyder for the final run of the first.

Third baseman Mark Reynolds nailed a solo shot to deep left in the sixth off Dan Giese, the Giants' third reliever.

Arizona holds onto their one-game lead in the West, while the San Diego Padres have made it clear that they're not going anywhere after beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 Tuesday night.

[Arizona Republic]