Piniella hits Cincy by way of Cleveland

CINCINNATI - Are we there yet?

That was the question Cubs manager Lou Piniella had to be asking himself and first-base coach Matt Sinatro as Friday morning turned into early Friday afternoon turned into late Friday afternoon.

Piniella and Sinatro decided to drive to Cincinnati from Chicago so each could spend Thursday's off-day at home instead of flying with the team late Thursday afternoon.

So into the car they hopped, and it was off to Cincinnati, or so Piniella thought.

They finally made it to the Great American Ball Park, but not until 5:05 p.m.

"I'll tell you what happened," Piniella said. "Matty was driving, but we actually Googled the trip, but we were Googled to East Liverpool, Pa. (actually Ohio). Who in the heck knows? On the sheet, we had, 'Cincinnati-Liverpool.' And I'm thinking to myself, 'I was in Cincinnati three years, and I didn't remember a Liverpool around the area.'"

East Liverpool is near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line. Piniella and Sinatro didn't make it that far, but Cleveland did come into play. So Piniella wound up buying a map.

"I took a nap, but right before I took a nap, we passed (Interstate) 75," Piniella said. "I said, 'You know, Dayton's only about 40 miles from Cincinnati.' We kept going because we kept following the (directions). Finally, I woke up, and we were about 80 or 90 miles from Cleveland, Ohio. I said, 'No, I don't think so.' So we backtracked and came down through Columbus, and we got here at 5 o'clock. We left Chicago at 8 in the morning. So we should have been here at 2. But anyway, we're here.

"I wanted to get my mind off baseball for a little bit. I sure as heck did."

Gaudin a no-go: Reliever Chad Gaudin was not available Friday, and he remains day to day with lower-back soreness. He hasn't pitched since Aug. 29.

"He's got discomfort in his lower back," Lou Piniella said. "He had tests. They didn't see anything in particular."

Fukudome back: Right fielder Kosuke Fukudome returned to the lineup after not starting for two games. He batted eighth for the third time this year and went 0-for-4.

"Look, the eighth hole is an important hole for us," Lou Piniella said. "First of all, you need to get on base. We've scored a lot of runs in the back part of our lineup."