Starlin Castro's quest for 200 hits temporarily stalled

One of the few things worth watching as the Cubs play out the string is shortstop Starlin Castro's pursuit of 200 hits.

Castro's total held at 193 as he was 0-for-4 with 2 walks in Friday's 4-3, 12-inning victory over the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field.

Manager Mike Quade is trying to get rest for several of his players, but Castro has played with a lot of energy lately, and everybody involved with the Cubs would like to see him reach No. 200 on this final homestand of the season.

“I've been thinking about trying to get Cassie a day, but I don't think so,” Quade said. “I look him in the eye, and he says, ‘No, no, no, no.' He's having fun, and that's a good thing.”

At 21, Castro would become the youngest player in franchise history to reach 200 hits and the first Cubs player to get there as a shortstop. He'd also become only the fifth major-leaguer since 1940 to collect at least 200 hits at 21 or younger.

Battling Barney: Second baseman Darwin Barney was 0-for-5 Friday. That came on the heels of a 9-for-30 road trip. Barney has seen his batting average drop from .300 on July 22 to .274. Mike Quade talked on the trip about Barney needing to work to maintain his strength and weight during the long baseball season. Barney has lost upward of 15 pounds this year. He got a couple days off last week when his wife gave birth.#8220;His at-bats have been much, much better,#8221; Quade said. #8220;We've tried to spot him. He had two days at home even though I know that was hectic. We played him coming back and gave him the next day off. I still look to spell him a little bit ... He's been a little better.#8221;What a relief:The Cubs used only Carlos Marmol and Jeff Samardzija (7-4) out of the bullpen because starter Matt Garza went 9 innings. Marmol worked 2 perfect innings, striking out three and throwing 19 pitches, 17 for strikes. Despite the recent spate of long games, Mike Quade said his bullpen is in good shape. #8220;I've watched it closely because I've probably used our pen as much if not more than anybody,#8221; he said. #8220;I was really glad we could give Samardzija a three-day break. Needed to pitch Marm (Thursday) night because he would have been five (days without pitching), and that's just too many.#8220;Somehow, in spite of everything, we're pretty good. The one guy I'll probably have my eye on lately is Marsh (Sean Marshall. But everybody else, I think, is kind of on pace to do what they do.#8221;