Piniella concerned about bullpen

What was Will Ohman going to say?

Asked if the bullpen was being taxed following Thursday's 10-6 loss to the Phillies at Wrigley Field, when yet another Cubs starting pitcher failed to work enough innings, Ohman gave the kind of politically correct answer you'd expect from a good teammate.

"No, that's why we're down there," Ohman said.

But that's not the way Cubs manager Lou Piniella sees what is developing into a sticky situation for his first-place team.

Starter Sean Marshall didn't make it out of the third inning Thursday, allowing 7 earned runs on 9 hits. Rich Hill lasted only 4ˆ¿ innings Wednesday in a game the Cubs were able to win, and Ted Lilly was gone after 5 innings in Monday's loss to Philadelphia.

"The bullpen is just a bit overused right now," Piniella said. "We need to get more innings out of a few of our starting pitchers. A few have to step it up and give us just a little more."

If Carlos Zambrano, normally the Cubs' biggest innings eater, can't go deep into today's game against the New York Mets, Piniella's problem could become even worse.

The Cubs don't have another off-day on the schedule until Aug. 13, which is 10 games from now.

"Hopefully it will start with Zambrano," Piniella said. "Carlos has given us some good work. But it takes a few days. One day doesn't get yourself back in shape.

"We really need Hill to kick it in a little bit. Earlier in the year he was giving us some innings. We probably need Hill more than any of those other guys to kick it in and start pitching deeper into these games, because he's certainly capable of it."

Piniella said Carlos Marmol was not available to pitch out of the bullpen in Thursday's game and that he didn't want to use Bob Howry for the fourth time in five days.

After saying before the game that Ohman normally pitches his best when he comes into the middle of an inning, Piniella brought in the left-hander to start the ninth with the Cubs trailing 7-6.

Ohman gave up 3 runs on 4 hits, all but killing the Cubs' chances for a comeback win.

"Marmol wasn't available and Howry has pitched three out of four days and (Ryan) Dempster two out of three," Piniella said. "If we had gone ahead in the ninth, then Dempster was coming in.

"These other people are short people that pitch a lot. Look, you can't go after every ballgame like it's the end of the season, I'll tell you that."

While Ohman struggled, Rocky Cherry, Scott Eyre and Michael Wuertz combined pitch 5ˆº innings of scoreless relief after Marshall left.

Eyre turned in a strong inning for the second day in a row. He has not allowed a run to score in his last eight outings over a total of 7ˆ¿ innings.

Ohman continued to struggle mightily at Wrigley Field, where his ERA ballooned to 7.80 in 21 appearances compared to his 1.62 ERA in 25 road games.

"It was location today," Ohman said. "Guys get paid to hit, and they hit it. That's how it goes."