Lee returns to '05 form

It looks like the Derrek Lee of 2005 has returned.

Lee doesn't have 46 homers and a league-leading .335 batting average, but he's been pretty good nevertheless for the Cubs. Lee belted his 27th homer of the season in Wednesday's 2-0 victory over the Astros.

Lee also has 90 RBI, which has him on his way toward the career-best 107 he knocked in during the '05 season. A broken wrist ended his 2006 season early, and lingering pain from that as well as recurrent neck problems may have contributed to power drops in 2007 and 2008, when he hit 22 and 20 homers, respectively.

During both of those years, he was reluctant to blame physical pain.

"Who knows?" he said. "I had two down years, but you need to keep going. People point to my power, but we made the playoffs each year. I think any player will tell you they'll trade their numbers for the postseason anytime."

Manager Lou Piniella says he believes the injuries may have cut into the power.

"Looking back at it, I would have to say yes, it had an effect on him, especially power-wise," Piniella said. "The hands, the wrist area, they're very vital. They're important to hitting a baseball. When there's something that's not right there, it makes it more difficult. To his credit, he's having a really, really solid season."

Smooth glove: Backup shortstop Andres Blanco made a lunging catch, doubled and hit a sacrifice bunt.

Blanco is back after a minor-league rehab. He gives the Cubs their best range, hands and arm in the infield.

"He plays a nice shortstop," Lou Piniella said. "Blanco does a nice job with the glove. If he can learn to be just a little more selective at home plate and increase his on-base percentage, it probably would allow him to get better pitches to hit and get in better hitters counts. If you could do all those things, you'd be regular somewhere."

Making them think: Reliever John Grabow has not allowed a run in 16 Cubs appearances since coming from Pittsburgh in a July 30 trade. A free agent at the end of this year, Grabow may be making the Cubs think hard about keeping him.

"The city's awesome," he said. "The team's great. It's a great group of guys. That's something management here is going to have to decide. So far, so good. We'll have to see. I like it here. It's a great place to pitch. They always sell out. They've kind of embraced me so far."

Patton's back: The Cubs activated reliever David Patton off the DL and a minor-league rehab stint. Patton, whom the Cubs took in last December's Rule 5 draft, has pitched in 17 games, going 3-1 with a 5.63 ERA.

"The organization likes me," he said. "It goes both ways because I really like the organization. They've taken care of me really well. I'm just going to move forward and see what we can do here in September."