Howry good as gold of late

HOUSTON -- Why ask why? You won't catch Cubs reliever Bob Howry doing that.

Howry is simply enjoying a run of success that has led to manager Lou Piniella calling him an "indispensable" member of the Cubs' bullpen.

After working in three straight games -- working 4 innings and allowing no runs on 3 hits with 5 strikeouts -- Howry was scheduled for a night off Thursday in the Cubs' series finale against the Astros.

It's as if he has found a second wind at the toughest point of the season.

"I don't know if I have an exact answer for a lot of things," Howry said. "They're going the way I expected them to go all year, really. I've found a little groove right now. The importance of every game we play, I guess maybe you get a little extra bit of focus or whatever."

Howry and Carlos Marmol have been Piniella's go-to guys in the bullpen in setup roles. If there is fatigue, Howry isn't thinking about.

"At this point, you know that you've got to win every game that you can unless there's a thing where you're physically unable that you felt you couldn't do your job effectively," Howry said. "It's all or nothing. If you don't win these games and play well, in three weeks you go home instead of playing in October."

If the Cubs do play in October, Howry will be one of the reasons, according to his boss.

"He's really pitched well," Piniella said. "He's resilient. He's dependable. When (Ryan) Dempster got hurt, he stepped right into the closer's role. You know what? He's indispensable in our bullpen."

Lineup scratch: First baseman Derrek Lee had to be pulled from Thursday's lineup after he tested his right knee and couldn't run during batting practice.

Lee fouled a pitch off his knee Wednesday night. Daryle Ward replaced Lee at first base. Cliff Floyd moved up from fourth to third in the batting order. Aramis Ramirez moved from fifth to fourth.

Finish 'em off: The St. Louis Cardinals lost their seventh straight game Thursday, falling to the Reds 5-4. The Cubs visit the Cardinals beginning tonight. At Busch Stadium, the Cardinals are 39-31.

The Cardinals are 69-74 overall and would seem to be ready to be had, if the Cubs can finish the job over four games this weekend.

"We talked about this week on the road getting out of it in the most decent shape we possibly could," Lou Piniella said. "We still feel that way. St. Louis has been struggling, but they play well at home. They're not going to be easy.

"We get by this weekend in good shape, now we've got six games at home and six on the road with a couple days off to rest a little bit.

"I said that this week here would tell a lot, and it will, believe me. … Anytime you win a world championship like they did, and they've got a veteran club and they've got an Albert Pujols and a Tony La Russa managing the team, they're going to play. We can basically put them out of the way.

"Hopefully that's what will happen. We expect them the to come out playing tomorrow night. We're not expecting an easy weekend series over there."

Scouting report

Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium

TV: Comcast SportsNet today and Saturday night; Channel 9 Saturday afternoon and Sunday

Radio: WGN 720-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Carlos Zambrano (15-12) vs. Adam Wainwright (13-10) today at 7:10 p.m.; Ted Lilly (15-7) vs. Braden Looper (12-10) Saturday at 12:10 p.m.; Sean Marshall (7-7) vs. Joel Pineiro (4-3) Saturday at 7:10 p.m.; Jason Marquis (11-8) vs. Mark Mulder (0-2) Sunday at 1:15 p.m.

At a glance: It's up to the Cubs: They can either put the Cardinals out of their misery for 2007 or let them back into the NL Central race. The Cubs are 8-4 against the Cardinals this year, 4-1 at Busch Stadium. Saturday's day-night doubleheader contains a makeup game from April 29, when Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was killed in a car accident. The Cubs gave Zambrano an extra day of rest to pitch tonight. He's 7-4 with a 2.45 ERA vs. St. Louis lifetime and 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA this year. Marshall gets his first Cubs start since Aug. 31. The Cubs' Derrek Lee is 11-for-15 (.733) with a homer vs. Mulder. Alfonso Soriano is 10-for-25, and Matt Murton is 6-for-15 vs. Mulder.

Next: Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field, Monday-Wednesday

-- Bruce Miles