Victor Zambrano #31

Victor Manuel Zambrano graduated from Manve Maria Billolobos High School in Los Teques, Venezuela...Was originally signed by the Yankees in 1993 as an infielder...Played two seasons for the Gulf Coast Yankees...Released by the Yankees on Feb. 7, 1996.

2007

Spent parts of the season with the Toronto and Pittsburgh organizations before joining the Orioles in Sept...began the season in the Blue Jays bullpen after making the team as a non-roster spring training invitee...made six relief appearances in April for Toronto, going 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA (5.1 ip, 3 er)...made two starts for the Jays in May, going 0-1 with a 16.88 ERA (5.1 ip, 12 h, 10 er)...following his second start, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right forearm...was recalled from his rehab assignment on July 9, then activated and released by Toronto...signed a Minor League contract with Pittsburgh on Aug. 10 and spent the final month of the minor league season at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he went 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA (26.2 ip, 8 er) in five starts...contract was purchased by Baltimore on Sept. 9 in exchange for cash considerations...made his Orioles debut on Sept. 15 at Toronto, pitching 4.0-scoreless innings of relief...took the loss in a start on Sept. 26 vs. the Blue Jays, allowing eight runs on eight hits in 0.2 innings pitched in his only decision with the Orioles...posted a 6.75 ERA (6.2 ip, 5 er) in three relief outings and a 14.29 ERA (5.2 ip, 9 er) in two starts for Baltimore...was released on Oct. 1.

2006

Zambrano started the season third on the Mets' depth chart in the starting rotation, but he made only five starts. He picked up a win in his first start, then lost his next two, before having his best peformance of his short season on May 1 against the Nationals, in which he allowed five hits and one run in six innings of the Mets' 2-1 win. But, in his next start, against the Braves at home, Zambrano left in the second inning, complaining of pain in his elbow. Soon thereafter, it was learned he had suffered a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow, ending his season. He underwent Tommy John surgery on May 15 to repair a torn ligament, as well as remove bone spurs and repair the torn tendon.

2005

Allowed three earned runs or fewer in 20 of his 27 starts...Pitched at least 7.0 innings eight times...Finished ninth in the National League with a 3.24 (31 earned runs/86.0 innings) road ERA...Made his first start since September 2nd on September 27th at Philadelphia...Threw 4.2 innings, allowing two hits, two runs, unearned, with four walks and five strikeouts, in a no-decision in the Mets' 3-2 victory...Did not allow a run in three of his four relief outings...Tossed 2.0 scoreless innings of relief on September 14th vs. Washington...Struck out the side in the seventh...Was moved to the bullpen on September 6th...Made his first relief appearance with New York on September 8th at St. Louis... Tossed a scoreless inning with two strikeouts...His last relief appearance was June 20, 2004 with Tampa Bay at Arizona, when he hurled a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one...Established a career-high with two hits on two occasions: August 23rd at Arizona and May 6th at Milwaukee...His start on August 7th vs. Chicago's Carlos Zambrano marked the fourth time in modern baseball history that two starting pitchers with a last name beginning with "Z" have faced each other...Carlos and Victor Zambrano have each faced Oakland's Barry Zito once, while Washington's Tom Zachary and Boston's Paul Zahniser met in 1925...It was also the seventh time in Mets history that the two starting pitchers had the same last name...The last time was on May 11, 1999, when the Mets' Bobby J. Jones faced off against Colorado's Bobby M. Jones at Coors Field...Posted a 2.75 ERA (24 earned runs/78.2 innigns) in a 12-start span from May 6th-July 16th...Went 2-1 with a 2.48 ERA (nine earned runs/32.2 innings) in five June starts...Struck out a season-high eight batters on October 2nd vs. Colorado...Struck out the side in the second innning...The eight strikeouts were two shy of his career high...Pitched 8.0-plus innings on June 1st...It was his longest outing as a Met and the first time he pitched as many as 8.0 innings in a start since June 23, 2004 with Tampa Bay at Toronto...Surrendered four home runs on August 2nd vs. Milwaukee, tying his career high...Also allowed four home runs on July 9, 2003, with Tampa Bay at Boston...Notched his first win of the year in the Mets' 16-4 victory at Philadelphia on April 19th...Pitched 6.0 innings, allowing eight hits, four runs, two earned, walking three and striking out five...Also smacked his first career triple off Gavin Floyd in the fifth inning... His two RBI on the hit doubled his career total. Was 0-0 with a 3.07 ERA in four starts for Aragua in the Venezuelan Winter League...In 14.2 innings, he surrendered 15 hits, five runs, earned, with three walks and 15 strikeouts.

2004

Placed on the 15-Day Disabled List on August 19th with a strained right flexor muscle...Did not pitch the remainder of the year....Left his start on August 17th at Colorado after 1.2 innings with the strained right flexor muscle...On August 12th, opened the game by retiring the first 14 batters that he faced before Jose Vizcaino's single in the fifth inning...He earned the victory, 2-1, over the Houston Astros...Is 12-1 with a 2.91 ERA (24 earned runs in 74.1 innings) in 19 career appearances against National League teams...Went 5-0 with a 2.62 ERA (10 earned runs in 34.1 innings) in seven starts against NL clubs in 2004...Made his first start and earned his first victory as a member of the New York Mets in an 11-6 win over the Brewers at Miller Park on August 5th...Worked 5.1 innings, yielding eight hits, six runs, four earned, with three walks and seven strikeouts...Went 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA (six earned runs in 14.0 innings) in August and was 3-0 with a 3.48 ERA (12 earned runs in 38.0 innings) in June...On August 5th faced off vs. Milwaukee's Victor Santos...The only other time in Major League History that both starting pitchers were named Victor was in 1931 when Vic Frasier of the White Sox and Vic Sorrell of the Tigers met three times...(Information courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau)...Went 7-2 in 16 night games...Righthanded batters hit .217 (57-263) off him, while lefties batted .241 (62-258)...Was acquired by the Mets along with minor league pitcher Bartolome Fortunato from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on July 30th in exchange for lefthanded pitcher Scott Kazmir and minor league righthanded pitcher Joselo Diaz...Since June 1, 2003, he is 20-12 with a 4.22 ERA (126 earned runs in 268.2 innings) in 44 starts...His 107 strikeouts were tied for the fifth most in the American League and his nine wins were tied for the ninth most in the AL at the time of the trade...Held batters to a .229 batting average against, which was the second lowest in the American League before he was traded...Had a six-game winning streak spanning from May 25-July 3rd...Went 6-0 with a 2.28 ERA (13 earned runs, 51.1 innings pitched) over that span of nine games (eight starts)...The six-game win streak was a Tampa Bay Devil Rays club record...Is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays all-time leader in wins (35) and strikeouts (372)...Won his first three starts, becoming the first pitcher since Kevin Appier for Kansas City in 1995 to have three wins through his team's first seven games...Started the first game of the major league campaign on March 30th, for the Devil Rays vs. the Yankees in Tokyo, Japan...Was the winning pitcher in an 8-3 victory...Tossed 6.0 innings, allowed six hits, three runs, earned, with one walk and four strikeouts...His 19 wins over the past two seasons were 11 more victories than any other Devil Ray pitcher at the time of the trade.

2003

Led Tampa Bay's staff in wins, starts, innings pitched and strikeouts...Turned back the Red Sox on the last day of the season for his 12th victory, the second most wins in one season in club history...The triumph also tied him with Albie Lopez and Esteban Yan for most wins all-time in club history (26)...Held his opponents to a .237 batting average, the fifth lowest in the American League...Righthanded batters only hit .206 against him, third in the AL...Began the year with a 1-2 record and a 6.29 ERA in 10 appearances (five starts)...Was optioned to Durham (AAA) of the International League on May 9th...Recalled on May 23rd and went 11-8 with a 4.04 ERA (67 earned runs/155.0 innings) in 24 games (23 starts), the rest of the way...On September 7th, he pitched the first complete game of his career, an 11-2 victory over Oakland and Barry Zito...It was only the second time in major league history that two pitchers with a last name beginning with the letter "Z" started against each other... The only other occasion came on September 6, 1925 when Boston's Paul Zahniser matched up against Washington's Tom Zachry as the Red Sox defeated the Nats, 5-3, at Griffith Stadium...Combined with three relief pitchers on the fourth one-hitter in club history on June 13th vs. Pittsburgh...The Devil Rays won, 7-1...In the game, the Pirates had 11 baserunners (eight walks and three hit by pitches)...It was the most baserunners in a one-hitter since June 18, 1977, when the Brewers beat the Angeles, 4-2, on a one-hitter that featured 12 Angels reaching base...On March 27th at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, Victor and two relief pitches combined to throw a no-hitter against the Phillies in a spring training contest.

2002

Made the Opening Day roster...Began the season in the bullpen and was optioned to Durham (AAA) of the International League on June 25th...Recalled from Durham on July 20th...Went into the starting rotation on August 5th...His first 67 major league appearances came out of the bullpen, going 10-6 with two saves and a 5.13 ERA...Was 4-4 with a 4.27 ERA in his 11 starts.

2001

Was selected from Durham (AAA) of the International League on June 21st...His six victories tied Ben Weber of the Angels for most victories by an American League rookie pitcher...Won five straight decisions from July 6th-August 12, tying a club record...His 3.16 ERA ranked third among all AL rookie pitchers (minimum 50 innings pitched)...Put together a 16.2 scoreless innings streak from July 6th-August 5th...Made his major league debut on June 21st vs. Boston...Picked up his fist major league victory on July 6th vs. Florida.