Piniella: Stars do not sit

ST. LOUIS -- Controversy? What controversy?

Cubs manager Lou Piniella insisted there was none one day after he cut short his postgame news conference. The Cubs had lost 4-3 to Milwaukee, blowing a 3-1 lead in the ninth inning.

On one key play, the ball sailed over the head of left fielder Alfonso Soriano, allowing the Brewers' Gabe Kapler to reach second on a double. That set the stage for Milwaukee's rally.

After the game, Piniella took exception to a question from a radio reporter who asked if Piniella had thought about moving Reed Johnson from center to left and replacing Soriano, who had come off the disabled list Thursday after suffering a right-calf strain.

"The question that was asked yesterday, the guy who asked it knew the answer before I had to answer it," Piniella said. "Why ask it? Why can't he report the news instead of trying to create news?

"I'm not going to take Soriano out for defense. He knows it, you know it, and unless there's a double switch, that's the only way he's coming out of the ballgame. Everybody knows that. You don't take superstar players out of the lineup. You don't do it."

Still, Piniella said he might have responded differently to the question. The strongest word Piniella used was "damn," but then he added: "You think I'm stupid?"

"Yesterday, when I was asked a question, I probably should've responded a little different, but I was a little hot under the collar," he said. "If you can't get hot under the collar as a major-league manager losing a 2-run lead against a division rival who you're competing with for a championship, then you shouldn't be managing."

Fox for Hart: The Cubs made a roster move Friday, purchasing the contract of veteran right-handed reliever Chad Fox from Class AA Tennessee and optioning right-handed reliever Kevin Hart to Class AAA Iowa.

Before this year, Fox's most recent year in the major leagues was 2005, when he pitched in 11 April games for the Cubs before straining his right elbow. Fox has had a history of numerous elbow procedures.

Fox went to spring training with the Cubs this year as a nonroster player but was slowed by a triceps problem.

"I decided to do this several months ago, and I wouldn't have done it if I didn't believe I could do it," Fox said. "But to actually stand in here, putting this uniform on, especially for this organization, it's meant a lot to me.

"There've been a lot of emotions. I was rolling on the bed (Thursday) like a little kid. A lot of tears of joy have been shed."

Fox suffered the loss Friday night, giving up a 2-run homer to Skip Schumaker with one out in the 11th inning.

Backing Wood: Lou Piniella said he has no intention of removing Kerry Wood as closer in the wake of Thursday's blown save, Wood's third of the season.

"I have confidence in Kerry," Piniella said. "These things are going to happen. You don't want to see them happen. You don't like when they happen. That was a tough loss for us. … Look, Kerry's our closer, and that's the end of the story."

Eyre conditioning: Lefty reliever Scott Eyre is rehabbing his pitching elbow (bone chip) as Class AA Tennessee. He has not pitched for the Cubs this season but is about a week away, according to Lou Piniella.