Guest Author - Leigh Ann Bryan

SAN FRANCISCO – In his second attempt at the milestone, Greg Maddux became the 22nd player in Major League Baseball history to win 300 games after he led the Cubs to an 8-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, August 7th.

"It's pretty special," said Maddux. "When I'm done playing, I'll look back and I'm sure I'll pat myself on the back then, but right now it's about my next start and the rest of the season."

The win wasn’t the prettiest of his career, but it goes into the win column. Maddux gave up four runs in just five innings of work. He also walked three batters and had difficulty locating his pitches throughout the game, atypical of his usual location-dominant pitching style.

"I didn't really pitch all that good today, obviously," Maddux said. "When you're not locating your fastball like you like to, you have to try other things.

Luckily, the Cubs bullpen bailed Maddux out, allowing no runs in four innings. Relievers Jon Leicester, Mike Remlinger, Kyle Farnsworth, Dustan Mohr and closer LaTroy Hawkins combined talents to complete the four inning shut-out.

Maddux joins Roger Clemens as the only other active pitcher in the 300 win club.