CHICAGO — Carlos Zambrano threw another tantrum, and this time, the Cubs might be out of patience.
They suspended the volatile pitcher indefinitely for his outburst and dugout altercation with teammate Derrek Lee after the first inning of a 6-0 loss to the White Sox yesterday.
General manager Jim Hendry said Zambrano’s behavior was “not acceptable.”
Asked if there was any doubt in his mind that Zambrano would pitch again for the Cubs this year, Hendry said he “certainly wouldn’t rule it out” and added “the rules of the game usually don’t allow long, long-term suspensions.”
Manager Lou Piniella, who sent Zambrano home, called his behavior embarrassing.
“It becomes a bit of a tired act,” Hendry said. “People think that he hasn’t been spoken to by Lou and his staff or the general manager before. Things are sometimes construed as being let go or let slide by — that’s certainly not true.”
Zambrano was screaming as he walked down the dugout steps past Lee after allowing four runs and stormed toward the other end. Lee appeared to yell something, and as Zambrano headed back toward him, Piniella, pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bench coach Alan Trammell stepped between them.
Piniella said Zambrano was upset some of his teammates didn’t try to make diving stops, even though the balls were hit hard.