Cubs finally get a little offensive with 10-5 win over Phillies

The Cubs finally got the hitting that manager Lou Piniella was looking for Wednesday.

It almost ended up not being enough.

Leads of 5-0 and 8-3 didn't seem safe, so Piniella called on his closer to work more than 1 inning for the second time on the road trip.

Kevin Gregg got the dangerous Ryan Howard to ground out with the bases loaded in the eighth before working a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 19th save as the Cubs held off the Phillies 10-5 at Citizens Bank Park.

The Cubs ended their road trip with a 5-2 record, and they snapped the Phillies' 10-game winning streak. Piniella was able to breathe easier after Gregg retired Howard.

"That was the big out of the game," Piniella told reporters.

Gregg "owns" Howard in a way, holding him to 0-for-8 with 5 strikeouts.

"It's just one of those things," Gregg said. "You can't explain it."

The Cubs also got what they needed from starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Although he didn't get credit for a "quality start," Zambrano lasted 62/3 innings and improved to 7-4 with this third straight victory.

"Zambrano pitched well," Piniella said. "He had good stuff."

The Cubs scored 4 runs off veteran lefty Jamie Moyer in the fourth. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Milton Bradley loaded the bases with singles. Alfonso Soriano's single drove Lee home.

Jeff Baker, getting a start at second base, doubled to score 2 runs, with Soriano coming home on an error.

"Hopefully this will give us a jump-start and we'll get rolling," Baker said.

Zambrano came out in the seventh for Sean Marshall, who gave up a 2-run single to Greg Dobbs to make the score 8-5. Angel Guzman relieved Marshall and then needed help from Gregg in the eighth, as the Phillies threatened.

The Cubs had scored a total of 2 runs over the first two games of this series, both losses. Before the game, Piniella sounded frustrated on his WGN radio pregame show.

While praising his bullpen, Piniella lamented the lack of production from his offense, and he seemed to be saying he doesn't have the players.

"It's baffling, it really is," Lou told WGN. "Look, we've been patient with this, really patient, and we've tried every combination that we have. I've run out of explanations.

"The problem is, we don't have the same pieces on the offensive side of things. My first year here (2007), we had to make some changes. But we had some pieces in place. Now, you know, we've run out of those pieces."

Bruce Miles' game tracker

All-out Riot: Shortstop Ryan Theriot singled three times, walked once and stole a career high 3 bases. He also scored 2 runs. He extended his hitting streak to five games, during which he's 7-for-19. Theriot is batting .300 for the season.

Power outage: The Cubs did not have a homer among their 13 hits. They went the entire three-game series at Citizens Bank Park without a home run.

Milestone marker: Third baseman Aramis Ramirez notched his 900th and 901st RBI on his seventh-inning double. Ramirez walked twice and singled once.