'Heads, he bats third'

If he doesn't know it by now, Kosuke Fukudome will learn that Cubs manager Lou Piniella has a sense of humor to go with his fiery demeanor.

Asked why he decided to put Fukudome in the No. 3 spot in the batting order for today's game, Piniella didn't hesitate in giving his answer.

"Flipped a coin," he said with a laugh. "We talked about the possibility of him hitting third here, second, third, fifth. I like the idea of having power in the fourth and fifth spots with (Derrek) Lee and (Aramis) Ramirez. At he same time, it gives us more speed in the 1-2-3 spots. We'll see how it looks. He's a good hitter. He's hit third in Japan, and if he can hit third in Japan, there's no reason to assume he can't hit third here."