Zambrano ready to go Tuesday

ST. LOUIS -- Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano was limping slightly Sunday, the result of a cut he suffered on his left foot.

Zambrano still threw from the bullpen mound and said he's ready to pitch Tuesday against the Reds at Wrigley Field on three days' rest. That's still the Cubs' plan, and they say that neither the foot nor any questions about Zambrano's strength will stop him from going on short rest.

"I cut myself in Houston with a chair," Zambrano said. "It happened in the kitchen. I was standing up and did something like this (turning his body) and hit it on the corner of the chair. But it happened before I pitched (against the Cardinals). But now it's swollen and it hurts."

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild pointed out that Zambrano pitched 8 strong innings with the bad foot Friday night, when he beat the Cardinals 5-3.

As far as the arm goes, Zambrano said he's more than fine.

"This is my first time doing this," he said of the short rest. "We'll see. I think I feel better when I have three or less days to rest. I know my arm. I know my body. I know every time I play catch on my throw day I feel good.

"Every year, the last month, I feel stronger. It's like when I'm running, the first five or 10 minutes are boring. Then when I get to 20 minutes, 30 minutes, I'm not tired."

Manager Lou Piniella will use both of his aces, Zambrano and Ted Lilly, on three days' rest this week. Lilly is set to go Wednesday,

"That's the plan," Lilly said.

As far as Piniella sees it, he has little choice.

"What am I going to do?" he asked. "We've got to set up our pitching for the last dozen games of the year and match them up against teams like we feel that we should. This is the only option. We don't have any other options. If we have to adjust, we can adjust because we've got days off later on."

"They're healthy enough. Pitch counts are fine. Their pitch counts have been good."

Piniella also discounted any notion this is a gamble.

"What gamble is it?" he asked. "There's no gamble in this. We shorten them up, and the next time out, they have their sixth day. Toward the end of the season, what you want to do is pitch your best pitchers, right? That's exactly what we're doing.

"I've talked to both pitchers about it. I wouldn't have done this without talking to them. They're both very comfortable with it. This is one of the reasons we watch pitch counts very carefully all year. This is one of the reasons we've always given people extra days off. So if we need to get into this type of situation, we have a choice or an option. I think we're doing the right things."