ATLANTA -- Carlos Zambrano may have thrown his last pitch as a member of the Chicago Cubs -- or any other club. And if that is indeed the case, it happened in typically bizarre Zambrano fashion.
Zambrano was ejected in the fifth inning of Friday's game after twice pitching aggressively inside on Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones. After the ejection, Zambrano cleaned out his locker, left the visitors' clubhouse before the game was over and told Cubs team personnel he was considering retiring, according to manager Mike Quade.
Quade said he is "really disappointed" in Zambrano and said "he's talking about retiring."
Zambrano's apparent attempts to hit Jones came after the Braves hit back-to-back homers -- off the bats of Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla. Zambrano surrendered five homers in the game prior to his ejection, tying a club record. Zambrano's second inside pitch caused numerous Braves to leave the bench, but none got past the first-base foul line.
On the night, Zambrano gave up eight runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings pitched.
Zambrano was ejected by plate umpire Tim Timmons.
Quade said he didn't talk with Zambrano.
"I'm running a ballgame and I've got 24 guys I care about, so I didn't have time to speak to him," Quade said. "I come in here and I see an empty locker. I figure he's decided he's had enough."
When asked if Zambrano would be welcomed back, Quade said, "I don't know."
"All I know is, it was a bad night," Quade said. "And that's allowed.
"He had a bad night. But he had a real bad night after it was over. You don't leave your teammates."
Outfielder Marlon Byrd said he would reach out to Zambrano.
"Hopefully the rumors aren't true and he'll be back tomorrow and we can talk about it," Byrd said.
Byrd said he didn't think Zambrano walked out on him.
"If he goes home for good, then it's a different story," Byrd said
ESPN.Com
Zambrano was ejected in the fifth inning of Friday's game after twice pitching aggressively inside on Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones. After the ejection, Zambrano cleaned out his locker, left the visitors' clubhouse before the game was over and told Cubs team personnel he was considering retiring, according to manager Mike Quade.
Quade said he is "really disappointed" in Zambrano and said "he's talking about retiring."
Zambrano's apparent attempts to hit Jones came after the Braves hit back-to-back homers -- off the bats of Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla. Zambrano surrendered five homers in the game prior to his ejection, tying a club record. Zambrano's second inside pitch caused numerous Braves to leave the bench, but none got past the first-base foul line.
On the night, Zambrano gave up eight runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings pitched.
Zambrano was ejected by plate umpire Tim Timmons.
Quade said he didn't talk with Zambrano.
"I'm running a ballgame and I've got 24 guys I care about, so I didn't have time to speak to him," Quade said. "I come in here and I see an empty locker. I figure he's decided he's had enough."
When asked if Zambrano would be welcomed back, Quade said, "I don't know."
"All I know is, it was a bad night," Quade said. "And that's allowed.
"He had a bad night. But he had a real bad night after it was over. You don't leave your teammates."
Outfielder Marlon Byrd said he would reach out to Zambrano.
"Hopefully the rumors aren't true and he'll be back tomorrow and we can talk about it," Byrd said.
Byrd said he didn't think Zambrano walked out on him.
"If he goes home for good, then it's a different story," Byrd said
ESPN.Com
