Livan Hernandez finally managed to stay out of early trouble last night, but his teammates couldn’t cause any of their own against Carlos Zambrano. The 24-year-old right hander spread four harmless singles over eight innings to shut out the Nats 4-0 in Chicago and pick up his second win. No National had more than one hit. Alfonso Soriano struck out three times on the same day the Post commended him for not letting his left field struggles affect his hitting. Jose Guillen, despite an 0-4 night sending his average down to .220, apparently is still such a hot commodity on the market that Jim Bowden may seek to trade for some prospects.

The Cubs had not beaten a Washington team since 1899. Of course, it was mostly due to competing in different leagues before interleague play, but still, you know?