Cubs contending — or is Guillen pretending?

Before the rain hit in the sixth inning of Tuesday night's Cubs-White Sox game, there were plenty of rainy-day stories in the pregame sessions with each manager.

Perhaps the most provocative — and it comes as no surprise — is that Sox manager Ozzie Guillen talked up the Cubs as possible champions of the National League Central.

And Guillen was talking about this year.

Maybe he was trying to diffuse attention away from himself, but it made for good conversation before the White Sox beat the Cubs 3-2.

“I look at their lineup (Monday),” Guillen said before his comments were relayed to Cubs counterpart Mike Quade. “I think they have a chance to win the division. Look at the lineup. I don't follow them, but look at that lineup. That lineup is pretty good. You see a lot of guys .280, .284, .270, around there. When you've got Aramis (Ramirez), if those guys get hot at the same time, they're going to be dangerous.”

Guillen also called Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro an “amazing player, a very good player.”

The reality of the situation has been quite different for the Cubs. They're 30-43, in fifth place and 9½ games out of first place.

The team's pitching is last in the National League, and its offense is middle-of-the-pack or worse in most categories.

Quade was taking any support he could get.

“I feel that way,” Quade said. “I hope Ozzie's a really good handicapper. That's great. I felt all along ... the hitting is part of it, but starting pitching and getting Woody (reliever Kerry Wood) back and healthy. I felt coming out of spring training we were going to pitch it better than we have, and I still feel that's a possibility, and I think that's going to be as important as anything if we're going to get ourselves back to .500 and see what's what in the second half.”

One of the players the Cubs had been counting on big time is pitcher Matt Garza, who started Tuesday. Garza went only 5 innings because of the rain. He gave up a leadoff homer to Paul Konerko in the second inning on a run on 2 hits in the third.

“I looked up in the bottom of the fifth, and I only had 70-some pitches,” he said. “I said, ‘Yes, I'm going deep,' and then the rain came. It was a little disappointing.”

Garza spent time from late May through early June on the disabled list with a bone bruise on his right elbow

The Cubs got the second homer in two games from Carlos Pena, who also seemed to take Guillen's words to heart.

“We really appreciate that,” said Pena, who has 13 homers. “We believe we have what it takes. I think we're playing together. We've got good chemistry going. I believe it. Today, we were disappointed we didn't come out with that win, but at the same time, looking forward to tomorrow and getting back out there.”

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