CHICAGO — Carlos Zambrano is in a very good groove.
Aramis Ramirez hit a solo homer to back Zambrano and lift the Cubs to a 5-3 victory on Saturday over the New York Mets. With the win, the Cubs improved to 8-3 since Mike Quade took over Aug. 23 for Lou Piniella. Quade is the first Cubs manager to begin 8-3 since Jim Essian did so in 1991.
Zambrano (7-6) fanned eight to move past Kerry Wood (1,407) and into sole possession of third place on the team's all-time strikeout list with 1,411 K's.
Since returning to the rotation Aug. 9, he is 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA (eight earned runs, 36 1/3 innings) in his last six starts. He's had his share of distractions this season. Zambrano returned home to Venezuela after his Aug. 24 start to be with family as his 11-year-old nephew battled a bacterial infection. Zambrano has settled down on the mound.
"I don't know if the issues at home were weighing on his mind," Quade said. "Sometimes distractions are a good thing. I know in the midst of this world that I'm involved in, in the first few days there were so many things to take care of that kind of diverted me from the actual fact that, 'Hey, pal, here's where you're sitting.' You deal with all the personal stuff and then come back to work a little clearer.
"To me, he seems a little calmer. Inside, there's no calm because it's 'Z.' If he attacks the strike zone with a good live fastball, he usually has good results."
And Quade wasn't referring to Zambrano's dugout tantrum June 25, which resulted in time on the restricted list to undergo anger management therapy.
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second on Geovany Soto's RBI double with two outs, driving in Xavier Nady, who had singled. Marlon Byrd singled with one out in the third, reached third on Ramirez's double and scored on Nady's sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
In the Mets' fourth, Luis Castillo walked and reached third on Carlos Beltran's single. One out later, Zambrano struck out Lucas Duda and catcher Soto threw to second to try to get Beltran, but he was safe as shortstop Starlin Castro missed the tag. Castillo scampered home on the double steal.
Castro got some extra instruction in the dugout from Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell immediately after the inning ended. The rookie tried to make up for his error in the fifth, when he singled, stole second and scored on Byrd's double. Two outs later, Byrd tallied on a wild pitch by Jenrry Mejia (0-3) on a third strike to Tyler Colvin to go ahead, 4-1. Ramirez led off the seventh with his 21st home run, a shot to straightaway center.