"It was one year ago this week that Carlos Zambrano returned from the restricted list, where he underwent a month of anger management counseling for his shouting match with Derrek Lee in the dugout at U.S. Cellular Field.

Zambrano returned to the rotation on Aug. 9, and went 8-0 with a 1.41 earned-run average down the stretch, the third-best ERA in baseball behind Felix Hernandez and Roy Oswalt.

After Monday's 5-3 win over the Pirates, Zambrano said a rerun of the last two months of 2010 is possible.

"Yeah," he said. "Personally I feel like I've been throwing the ball good. Today I wasn't feeling like my arm slot was there. It was up and down, up and down, but the ball was moving hard and the breaking ball was good, and I was able to battle and pitch six innings."

Zambrano allowed one run over six innings — a Lee homer — improving to 8-6. The Cubs earned their second straight win, despite Lee becoming the first Pirates hitter since Shawon Dunston in 1997 to hit two homers in his debut.

A lot can change in a year. On Aug. 2, 2010, Lee was still a Cub, Mike Quade was still a third-base coach and Zambrano was in the bullpen after returning from his "timeout." Was it weird for Quade to see Lee homer off Zambrano and Kerry Wood?"