Around the Horn (6/17)

It's been a tough year for Carlos Zambrano. First there was the multi-year pact taken off the table when the The Trib sold the Cubs. Then there were the early struggles and erratic pitching, possibly brought on by the lack of a new contract. Next up came the fight with Michael Barrett in the dugout and clubhouse. But yesterday may have been the most frustrating of all.

Zambrano had a no-hitter going into the 8th inning. He lost is when Marcus Giles stroked a 1-out single. Zambrano would allow only one one more hit in the game, but it was one hit too many. Russell Branyan belted his 5th home run of the season in the 9th- the game's only run. Chris Young and 3 relievers limited the Cubs to hits as well.

Young didn't last too long in the game though, just 3 innings plus a batter in the 4th. That batter was Derek Lee and Young went head hunting after him. Let's take a step back though.

Saturday's incident happened because of the unprofessional demeanor of the Cubs' Alfonso Soriano on Friday. Sori hit a deep blast off the Pads' David Wells, and in the process raised the bar for admiring home runs. Sori back peddled his way down the 1st Base line, angering the Pads in the process.

So on Saturday, Young narrowly missed Lee's noggin' in nailing him. A brawl ensued with Young, Lee, Jake Peavy (who was quite outspoken on Soriano's actions on Friday), and Cubs' hitting coach Gerald Perry were all ejected. The only puzzlement in all of this is why Lee was thrown at and not Soriano.

Afterwards, the reactions were typical. First Derek Lee:

"I really don't mind getting hit, but when it's at my head, I feel like it threatened my health," the normally mild-mannered Lee said. "I don't know what his intent was, but it was at my head and he said some things to me I didn't like. It just escalated."

Chris Young:

"I will say this, I didn't throw at him and that's as far as I'll go," said Young, who didn't allow a hit in his three-plus innings before he was tossed. "I didn't try to hit him. It had nothing to do with anything in the past. I was just trying to throw a pitch inside. It got away and hit
him."