Cubs' task is clear: get job done and win

LOS ANGELES - What better place to circle the wagons than out West?

That's what the Cubs began doing even before they got to Dodger Stadium for a voluntary workout Friday that drew most of the team.

"I talked to a few of the guys last night," said manager Lou Piniella, whose team is down two games to none to the Dodgers in the National League division series and faces elimination with another loss.

"This is not time for words anymore. This is time to go out on the field and play to the best of your ability and relax and get the job done.

"That's it. It's simple. You go out there and you play the best you possibly can, and you win, and you play on Sunday. And if you don't, as long as you played a good baseball game, that's all you can expect."

Of course, Cubs fans are expecting nothing less than a World Series title, and they'll send righty Rich Harden to the mound against Hiroki Kuroda, who beat the Cubs 3-0 on June 6 at Dodger Stadium, tossing a complete-game 4-hitter.

Harden was 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA after coming to the Cubs from Oakland in July. He says his cranky right shoulder should be fine for tonight and that the mood of the team is fine.

"Obviously, today, pretty relaxed, but coming into the field today, get some work done and get prepared for tomorrow," he said. "It's a really big game for us, and obviously, we need to win it. And we'll just come out to play tomorrow."

The Cubs are facing long odds. The only team to lose the first two games of a division series at home and come back to win it were the 2001 Yankees.

"Our mind-set is we're down two games, and we have to win," shortstop Ryan Theriot said. "The reality is we got beat in our house, and we have to regroup. It'll be a big challenge for us but we're more than capable.

"Our starting pitching has been solid all year. I definitely like our chances with the guys we have going out there."

If Harden and the Cubs can win tonight, lefty Ted Lilly takes the mound Sunday night after a 17-win season.

Piniella had to fend off talk Friday about a "negative atmosphere" in Chicago. With the favored Cubs losing two games, it would have been hard to imagine a positive atmosphere at Wrigley Field.

"I don't know about doom and gloom," Piniella said. "We didn't play very well - the two worst games that we've had back to back in the two years I've been here. And the fans want us to win. It's obvious. We want the same thing."

Once again, Piniella returned to a theme he sounded at the end of the regular season.

"I've tried to downplay these playoffs where everybody says World Series and this and the other," he said, referring to the notion that the Cubs' year is a disappointment if they don't reach or win the World Series. "I've tried to downplay that. You've got to play on the field.

"Forget all the talking, pep talks and conversations and everything else. You go out and you hit the ball and you get people out and you play good defense and you win baseball games. That's the way I've always adhered to."

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