Piniella refuses to fault Zambrano

Cubs manager Lou Piniella on Tuesday tried to shoot down any controversy concerning pitcher Carlos Zambrano and how he is taking care of his back.

Zambrano came out of his Aug. 1 start at Florida with lower-back spasms. He tried to warm up Friday at Colorado, but the back acted up again, and he was a late scratch. He went on the disabled list Saturday, retroactive to Aug. 2.

There has been talk that Zambrano didn't get treatment between starts, but Piniella downplayed that.

"I don't know about controversy, Piniella said. "But I do know from talking to our trainers he wasn't in the training room. That's about the only thing I do know. I think Carlos truthfully felt that he was fine. He came in for treatment Sunday, the day after, and he started to feel better. He felt well enough to be convinced that he could pitch on Friday."

Although Zambrano didn't get treatment, per se, from the trainer, Piniella said he had been doing his exercises with the strength coach, Tim Buss.

"I'm not going to put blame or fault on anybody," Piniella said. "I do know that he felt he could pitch on Friday and he took his regular batting practice assuming that everything was OK. When it came time to go warm up, he started feeling discomfort, and that was that."

Ready to rock: Jeff Samardzija will make his first major-league start tonight, when he faces Pedro Martinez and the Phillies. It will be Martinez's first start of the season after the Phillies signed him as a free agent.

"I've heard of him before," Samardzija joked. "It should be pretty exciting. You'll probably see about 15 different pitches up there and probably nothing straight. You couldn't write it up any better to get your first start."

Samardzija worked in long relief last Friday, throwing 73 pitches in Colorado. Lou Piniella said he should be able to throw 80-85 pitches tonight.

Injury updates: Lefty Ted Lilly will throw 65-70 pitches tonight in a rehab start for Class A Peoria. If that goes well, Lilly could start next Monday at San Diego. He's on the mend from left-knee surgery and left-shoulder inflammation.

Lefty Tom Gorzelanny should be able to start Saturday against the Pirates, Piniella said. Gorzelanny was hit on the right foot by a batted ball Monday in Colorado, cutting short his start.