The Chicago Cubs behind Carlos Zambrano’s strong pitching closed out their first sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis since 1988. The Cubs have won five straight in St. Louis for the first time since 1983. Yes, the Deadbirds’ downfall has sunk to these levels. Considering the Cubs, who were 29 games under .500, when they arrived in Mound City on Monday had to face rookie sensation Jaime Garcia (13-7), Adam Wainwright (18-10) and Chris Carpenter (15-6) in the series. Well, you can add a loss to all three of those starters’ records now. 

With the Cubs 7-3 victory over their Arch Rivals, Crazy Z now is 7-1 with a 1.29 ERA in 12 career starts in St. Louis, including 6-0 in seven outings at the new Busch Stadium. After the Cardinals completed a sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati to move into first place on August 11, the Redbirds faced the Cubbies nine times between August 13 and September 15. Chicago won seven of the last eight match-ups. Cubs fans can rejoice that they had a big hand in the Cardinals 2010 collapse.