CubsChic

Matt Murton had just gotten an infield single in the third inning when I saw the black ominous clowds barely visible in the deep twilight sky to the north of Wrigley. Just as I mentioned them to my friend Ken, the skies opened up. We scurried up a dozen rows or so, out of range of the rain, while the grounds crew scampered to get the tarp on the field.

Most of the crowd knew that the Cubs would get the game in if possible, but we weren’t sure how long they’d wait until calling it. We had a pretty good idea that the game was called when the Cardinals started collecting their things from the dugout. When they cleaned out their bullpen, we knew it was over. Do they tell the players that much before the fans, or were the players just assuming it would be an early night for them?

It’s too bad the game was rained out, because Zambrano looked great. Maybe that contract was on his mind the last few starts after all. Even if they had started the game again, I doubt Lou would have brought Zambrano back in. You just can’t risk messing up such a healthy (and now expensive) arm. Maybe he’ll be able to slide into the rotation before his next scheduled start, having only tossed 43 pitches on Sunday.