Cubs' roll call: 9 straight wins
SAN DIEGO -- Lou Piniella strode slowly, but purposefully, to the pitcher's mound.
It was time for one of the Cubs manager's "nice chats," this time with starting pitcher Jason Marquis.
The situation was this: The Cubs had just scored a run in the top of the fourth inning, cutting the San Diego Padres' lead to 2-1. Marquis, who had trouble finding the plate in the third, just walked Paul McAnulty leading off the home fourth.
Piniella said his piece -- not all of it fit for family lip readers -- and Marquis did give up a run that inning, but he seemed to settle down for the rest of his short time on the mound.
True to recent form, the Cubs rallied to defeat the Padres 9-6 for their ninth straight victory.
Geovany Soto broke a 3-3 tie with a solo homer in the sixth. Mark DeRosa hit a 2-run homer later that inning, and Alfonso Soriano crushed a 3-run homer in the eighth for the first-place Cubs.
The Cubs sure could use a long, strong performance from one of their starting pitchers, even with a nine-game winning streak.
Marquis was not on his way to providing that as he ran his pitch count to 63 over 3 innings and was throwing more balls than strikes.
Earlier in the day, the Cubs recalled right-hander Kevin Hart from Class AAA Iowa, giving them 13 pitchers.
As Piniella sees it, all of the Cubs' pitching pieces are related.
The starters have not been going deep lately, but late-inning relievers Bob Howry, Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood have been getting the job done.
"The starts before this rotation turn, the guys went deep, probably deeper in pitch counts than they had all year," Piniella said. "Look, it's a good problem to have if we're winning. But when you're winning, you're using your better pitchers (relievers) more.
"Our starting staff is not what you would classify as an 'innings' staff. So I like the idea of strong, young kids up here with good, fresh arms who can come in and help out. Hopefully Hart will do just that."
After a relatively quick first 2 innings, Marquis got into trouble during a 35-pitch third, when the Padres took a 2-0 lead.
It began when Marquis walked pitcher Wil Ledezma and then balked him to second base. Jody Gerut drew a walk, and Marquis got Tadahito Iguchi to fly out. Marquis then tried to pick off Gerut, but he bounced the ball toward first baseman Derrek Lee, and it got away for an error, allowing Ledezma to score.
Marquis walked Brian Giles before Adrian Gonzalez singled home the second run.
The Cubs got a run in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Aramis Ramirez.