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Last night in San Francisco, baseball fans were treated to an old fashioned pitchers duel. Two of the National Leagues best were going at it. Tim Lincecum for the Giants and Carlos Zambrano for the Cubs. In this battle of aces it was the Cubs ace that had the better night. Big Z did it on the mound and in typical Z fashion at the plate.

On the mound Friday night was Z at his best. He threw only 98 pitches over the 9 innings. 67 of those pitches were strikes. The big man allowed only two hits and one walk while striking out 8, in his first complete game shutout of 2009. How good was Z’s stuff? Well here’s what he said:

“I think it’s the same stuff I had when I threw my no-hitter,” Zambrano said. “Thank God everything went good today and I was able to command the strike zone.”

or how about the Giants manager:

“We faced a great pitcher who had great stuff,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I don’t know who could’ve hit him tonight. He was throwing 97 [mph] with a breaking ball and split and his ball was moving.”

At the plate Z drove in 2 of the Cubs 3 runs. Remember back earlier this year when people questioned Z running out groundballs? Well the Cubs second run scored in the seventh when Z beat out a potential inning ending double playball that scored Bobby Scales. In the ninth, Z doubled off the future HOFer Randy Johnson and that scored Sam Fuld. It was a great example of the complete player that Z is.

After his best performance of 2009, Z spoke about how disappointing 2009 has been for him:

“Obviously, this is a bad year for me,” Zambrano said. “I can still get 10 wins, but it’s a disappointing year. I don’t want to say ‘frustrating.’ It’s disappointing. There are many games I could’ve won.

“I’ll put this year behind me,” he said. “Other pitches like Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux have tough years like me. We’re human. I just want to finish strong and come back next year and learn from this experience. … I look forward to coming back next year strong or stronger and healthier and in good shape. That’s my goals.”

finally Z addressed the trade rumors one more time:

“I don’t want to be traded,” Zambrano said. “I want to stay here. I love Chicago, I love the city of Chicago and the fans. I’m showing them I can still pitch in the big leagues … just in case they have something in mind.

“I want to stay here, believe me,” he said. “My family is happy here. I love this team. … I want to stay here and come back next year and have a good year. Why not pitch for the Cy Young?”

For a guy that has a full no-trade hammer in his contract, I’d say this should pretty much put to rest any chances that Z is pitching for another club in 2010 or 2011. He’s the Cubs ace for the foreseeable future. He showed on Friday night why he has that role.