Chicago Cubs' Montgomery headed back to bullpen

The Cubs will put left-handed pitcher Mike Montgomery back in the bullpen beginning Monday as they get their top five starting pitchers regular work over the next week.

Montgomery has been the team's sixth starter of late, but an off-day coming up Thursday has eased the need for a sixth pitcher. It's possible Montgomery could get a start next week in Pittsburgh as manager Joe Maddon plans to go with a "bullpen day" in one of the games against the Pirates.

"We're going to fold him back into the bullpen and the next time, he won't get a start necessarily," Maddon said Sunday. "He'll be part of a bullpen day. We have to establish a bullpen day. But in the meantime, starting tomorrow, he'll be back in the bullpen. We want to get him back in the bullpen.

"It's getting back to normalcy for all these guys except when we get to Pittsburgh, that's when we're going to interject the sixth guy."

Montgomery came to the Cubs in a July 20 trade with Seattle. Since then, he has appeared in 12 games, 5 as a starter.

RISP-y business:

Cubs hitters were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position during Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. That marked the third time this season they've gone hitless in that situation with at least 10 at-bats.

"I thought we had good at-bats," Joe Maddon said. "It's just one of those days that it didn't play in our favor. We only scored 1 run, but actually, there was a lot more action offensively, I thought, from us. We just could not get it to fall in the right spots."

Coming along:

Outfielder Jorge Soler underwent an MRI for a sore right side, and Joe Maddon said he's hopeful Soler can return to the lineup in the next day or two.

Soler last played Friday, getting 1 at-bat against the Brewers.

Reaching the century mark:

Joe Maddon is pretty clear on what the Cubs' goals are for the rest of the regular season.

"You want to win 100 games and clinch homefield," he said. "Absolutely you do. There are still some short-term goals that lead to long-term benefits, hopefully. So yeah, we want all that."

Why 100 wins?

"It's a pretty neat number," he said. "I've never done that before."