Piniella 'explains' recent road trip

The Cubs' lack of offense on their recent road trip -- 3 runs or fewer in five of the six games -- inspired Lou Piniella to coin a word Friday.

See if you can spot what's new in Lou's lexicon.

"We struggled on this past road trip in a lot of areas," Piniella said. "Didn't hit as opportunerally as we had. Our defense was, uh … needed some improvement. And losing (Rich) Hill was something we didn't anticipate. So all in all we need a good homestand to right the ship a little bit."

Eyre back: The Cubs sent Sean Marshall to Class AAA Iowa on Friday to make room for left-handed reliever Scott Eyre.

Eyre, who's making $3.8 million in the final year of the deal he signed in November 2005, hasn't pitched since Game 2 of the NLDS.

He surrendered an RBI single to Augie Ojeda -- the only batter he faced in the Cubs' brief postseason appearance.

Since then, Eyre has spent time on the disabled list dealing with left elbow inflammation. He said Friday he's taking glucosamine and chondroitin to combat osteoarthritis in his elbow joint.

"I'm 35 and I've got arthritis. It's great," Eyre said with a smile. "But (the medication) seems to be working. Everyone I've talked to that says they've taken it says it works, so I'll keep taking it.

"Basically, I just need to keep my joint loose. I need to keep it warm and loose. It's not that hard to do."

Eyre replaces Marshall as Lou Piniella's lone left-handed option in the bullpen, which means he could work more days than not.

Is that workload possible for someone with arthritis?

"I don't want any (limitations), no," Eyre said. "If there's limitations, I shouldn't be here. I'm not going to ask. I'm just going to pitch when I'm told to pitch and hopefully help the team."

Marshall back soon? Lou Piniella wants Sean Marshall to use his Class AAA stint at Iowa to regain a starter's endurance.

Marshall, who started 19 games for the Cubs last year, made 13 relief appearances this year and posted a 4.15 ERA in 8¿ innings.

"He'll stay a starter," Piniella said. "We're looking at Marshall being able to go 4-5-6 innings. Probably take him a few starts. We'll see how he's doing. We pitched him in the bullpen out of necessity coming out of spring training, but we like him as a starter."

Soto honored: Now that we're a third of the way through May, it's finally time for major-league baseball to recognize Geovany Soto as the National League's Rookie of the Month for April.

Soto batted .341 in 23 games with 5 homers and 20 RBI. His 14 extra-base hits led to a .635 slugging percentage.