Piniella not worried about 9th-inning collapse

MESA, Ariz. - Cubs manger Lou Piniella chose to focus on the positives after Wednesday's 8-6 loss to the Giants.

Those were pitcher Ryan Dempster's 5 scoreless innings, a leadoff home run by Alfonso Soriano and multihit games by Mike Fontenot and Joey Gathright.

The negatives were reliever Chad Gaudin (11.17 ERA) giving up 2 hits and 2 runs in 1 inning, Luis Vizcaino (5.06 ERA) giving up a run in 1 inning and Jose Ascanio (12.71 ERA) blowing a save and suffering the loss by giving up 5 runs in the ninth.

"Listen, Dempster pitched 5 good innings," Piniella said. "That's one thing we wanted to see. Soriano had a good day with the bat. That's another thing we wanted to see. You don't like to see us lose ballgames at the end, but look, what are you going to do?"

Piniella stressed that different pitchers would have been in different situations if the game had counted.

"If we're playing this game, obviously, during the season, we'd have a different closer in the ballgame, and I'd have a left-hander here if I didn't want to look at Ascanio because we're considering him for this baseball team," Piniella said. "The only way you find out is to go through this once in awhile. It's unfortunate, but that's the reality of spring training."

Injury updates: First baseman Derrek Lee (quadriceps) probably will return to the lineup Friday, according to Lou Piniella. Lee last played Monday.

Right fielder Milton Bradley missed his third straight game because of the flu. Piniella said Bradley's wife has gone into labor, as well.

Night moves: Team chairman Crane Kenney said the Cubs "are not actively pursuing more night games with the city; and maybe we leave it at that," Kenney said, adding one more thing. "We've got a lot going. We're not actively pursuing the Friday night games."

The Cubs are prohibited from playing regular-season games at home on Friday night. There had been talk they'd lobby for a change.

Lockman remembered: The Cubs observed a moment of silence for Whitey Lockman, who died at 82. Lockman, a former major-league player, took over as Cubs manager from Leo Durocher in 1972 and managed through 1974. He was a Cubs coach in 1965-66.

Roster cuts: The Cubs sent pitchers Esmailin Caridad and Ken Kadokura to their minor-league camp. The spring roster stands at 43.