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Cubdom will be watching, all right, focusing cautiously on Harden's cranky right shoulder wrote Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti. But make no mistake, the newcomer is merely the yin to the yang of Carlos Zambrano, who always will be considered the pitching savior in any ongoing World Series scenario. On a team of heavenly salaries and huge expectations, Zambrano is the crackling fire, the heart and soul on which this season's giddy conviction is based. The lineup is potent. The bullpen is sturdy. The home record, 35-10, is ridiculous. Yet if the Cubs are to purge their long trail of trauma, once and for all, it will be done in October with a deep, high-quality rotation that features Z as the ace while Harden, Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly fall into place.

Healthy and recharged after a brief visit to the Hotel DL, Zambrano slashed through Baker's disappointing Cincinnati Reds like a Wrigley Field weedwacker Wednesday night, joining Dempster as a 10-game winner in a 5-1 victory. We used to call him the most entertaining pitcher in show business, capable of beating up a teammate, shattering a bat over his knee or shouting down an opposing batter every time his anger chip acted up. Oh, he's still capable of tantrums; in the seventh inning, he whipped down his helmet when he was called out after easily beating out a hit. But awash in $91.5-million wealth and grasping his leadership role, Zambrano is growing up at long last. He no longer heaves his fastball, splitter and slider like he's trying to murder the catcher. Now, he pitches, revealing no ill effects from recent shoulder discomfort in holding the Reds to one hit — a second-inning home run by thumper Adam Dunn — in an eight-inning, no-walk, 103-pitch stroll.

Source: Sun-Times