Lefty Tom Gorzelanny can finish a tumultuous season on a
winning note when the Chicago Cubs host the Arizona Diamondbacks today in the
first test of a three-game schedule-closing set at Wrigley Field.
A 27-year-old native of the Chicago area, Gorzelanny began the season with
nine relief appearances as a Pittsburgh Pirate before coming to the Cubs in
mid-season. He was 3-1 with the Pirates and has subsequently appeared in 12
games (starting six times) with the Cubs, including consecutive defeats of
Milwaukee and San Francisco on September 21 and 26, respectively.
In the two wins, he's allowed just 11 hits and three runs in 10 innings,
while walking four batters and striking out 14.
Gorzelanny is 1-0 in three career starts against Arizona, posting a 3.15
earned run average across 20 innings.
For the Diamondbacks, right-hander Billy Buckner tries to end his year with
two straight wins.
The 26-year-old had dropped five consecutive decisions between June 9 and
September 21 before breaking through for a 7-4 win over San Diego this past
Sunday in Phoenix. He allowed three hits and four runs in seven innings in his
first win since topping the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 1.
He's faced the Cubs once in his career in relief and allowed one hit in a
scoreless inning. Buckner is 2-2 with a 2.87 ERA in five road starts with this
season.
The Diamondbacks were just swept in a three-game series at San Francisco. In
Thursday's finale, Andres Torres finished a double short of the cycle, knocked
in two runs and scored three times as the Giants handed Arizona a 7-3 loss.
Justin Upton drove in two runs while Stephen Drew knocked in the other for
the Diamondbacks, who have dropped five of their last seven. Dan Haren (14-10)
was tagged with the loss after he was charged with five runs allowed on nine
hits with seven strikeouts over six innings of work.
Last night's finale of a four-game series between the Cubs and Pittsburgh
Pirates was halted in the fourth inning due to heavy rains and eventually
canceled. Pittsburgh took two of the first three games of the set after
recording a doubleheader sweep on Wednesday.
The Pirates led, 3-0, when the game was suspended and delayed for 2 hours, 32
minutes before the decision came to not resume or make it up, because neither
team is in the National League playoff race.
Arizona took two of three meetings from the Cubs in Phoenix back in April and
has won four of the last six overall matchups between the teams.
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