Cubs look for more home cooking
PITTSBURGH -- The Cubs hope Wrigley Field remains home sweet home today when they return to open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After Sunday's 6-5 loss to the Pirates, the Cubs are 10-13 on the road but 19-8 at home.
"There's reasons why we haven't played as well on the road as home," manager Lou Piniella said. "Come on. Just take a look at batting averages, for one, and the amount of runs scored. We're in every game we play.
"You don't see us getting blown out very, very often. Sometimes we get the big timely hits, and sometimes we don't."
Piniella pointed to 23 of 30 clubs having winning home records entering Sunday. Every NL Central team has a winning record at home.
"Obviously, if we're going to win this division, we're going to have to start playing better baseball on the road, there's no question," Piniella said. "Better winning-percentage baseball on the road. We haven't played poorly. We just haven't won."
Because all the Central teams are winning at home, Piniella said the division is going to be "a scramble. It's not easy going into any town. You've got to play good baseball to win."
Wood workings: Lou Piniella huddled Sunday morning with pitching coach Larry Rothschild to talk about the problems closer Kerry Wood has had with hitting batters.
Wood has hit five batters this year. He has done it three times to start innings, and all three times the Cubs have lost.
"It's tough enough doing the closer's job without putting yourself in trouble," Piniella said. "We've got to figure out if we can help him not do that."
Wood likes to pitch inside, but some of the Cubs' brass wouldn't mind seeing Wood place a first-pitch fastball on the outer edges.
Samardzija to pen: The Cubs have put right-hander Jeff Samardzija in the bullpen at Class AA Tennessee.
They say the move is for just one turn through the rotation so that Samardzija can get some things ironed out. Saturday against Mississippi, Samardzija worked a scoreless one-third of an inning, giving up 2 hits.
Overall, the former Notre Dame football star is 3-4 with a 6.10 ERA. In 48¿ innings, he has given up 32 walks while striking out only 28.
Scouting report
Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field
TV: Channel 9 today and Wednesday; Comcast SportsNet Tuesday
Radio: WGN 720-AM
Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Ryan Dempster (5-2) vs. Chad Billingsley (4-5) today at 1:20 p.m.; Sean Gallagher (1-1) vs. Hideki Kuroda (2-3) Tuesday at 6:05 p.m.; Carlos Zambrano (7-1) vs. Derek Lowe (2-5) Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.
At a glance: The Cubs were only 2-5 against the Dodgers last year, 1-3 at Wrigley, but the Cubs have a 19-8 home record. Tuesday's game is an early start to accommodate ESPN. The Dodgers have six players on the DL, including Nomar Garciaparra, Rafael Furcal and Andruw Jones. Jeff Kent entered Sunday in a 6-for-55 slump. Tuesday's nationally televised game features a matchup of Japanese rivals Kosuke Fukudome and Kuroda.
Next: Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field, Thursday-Sunday