Dempster's blister won't affect rotation

The blister that's been bothering pitcher Ryan Dempster shouldn't affect the Cubs' rotation plans for the upcoming two legs of the three-city road trip.

After today's off-day, the Cubs play three in Atlanta before moving on to Cincinnati. Dempster worked 7 scoreless innings Saturday, and after the game, manager Lou Piniella revealed the problem Dempster's been having with the blister.

"We're either going to pitch him next Friday or next Saturday," Piniella said Sunday. "If he needs an extra day, we can give it to him. If not, we just pitch him on his regular turn. He's going to get an extra day regardless (because of the off-day)."

If the Cubs push Dempster to Saturday, they can start Sean Marshall on Friday.

Feeling lucky? With everything the Cubs have been through over the first two months, with suspensions and injuries, Lou Piniella says his club is lucky to be above .500.

"I think we're fortunate, I really do," he said. "I think it has to do with the competitiveness in this division. I think it has to do with the fact that if you look at home-team record throughout the National League, it's not the easiest thing in the world to go into your opponents' park and win.

"It has something to say about our team. We've lost basically most of our big people. We've been able to hold on. It hasn't been easy all year, I'll be honest with you. We've had really one stretch of bad baseball, and that was the St. Louis-San Diego trip, where we lost six in a row. In that stretch, we didn't play poorly. We just didn't hit. We scored 5 runs in six games. Very difficult to win. I feel encouraged, I really do."

Don't push it: Rich Harden, who's on the disabled list with a back strain, played catch Sunday. He's scheduled to throw off the mound Tuesday in Atlanta, and he may be able to start next week in Houston.

"Once he throws on Tuesday, then we'll have an idea where we're at with Rich," Lou Piniella said. "Until then, I think it's premature to even guess."

Minor matters: Jeff Samardzija tossed a 7-inning complete game Saturday in Game 1 of a doubleheader for Class AAA Iowa in a 5-2 victory over Memphis. Samardzija is 2-1 with a 4.04 ERA at Iowa.

At Class A Peoria, third-base prospect Josh Vitters was 2-for-5 with a walk a double and the game-winning homer. Vitters hit his 13th homer Sunday. Catching prospect Michael Brenly, son of TV analyst Bob Brenly, extended his hitting streak to five games (9-for-23) Saturday.