Maholm sore but happy after win

Paul Maholm was sporting a bandage on his right knee after Friday’s 5-4 victory over the Dodgers.

The lefty took a hard one-hopper off the bat of Dee Gordon in the sixth inning. Maholm was able to finish the inning before coming out for pinch hitter Joe Mather, who homered.

The pain was worth it as Maholm won his third straight decision. He turned in his third quality start, working 6 innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball while walking none and striking out four.

“Obviously, it’s sore, but it’s good,” said Maholm, who improved to 3-2 and lowered his ERA from 6.20 to 5.13. “It squared me up pretty good, but luckily, I got to finish the inning. We’ll spend the next few days making sure it’s good to go for the next one.”

Maholm said the difference between his first 2 starts and his next 3 was “executing pitches, not missing.”

One of his few “misses” Friday was to Jerry Hairston, who homered leading off the third inning to cut a 2-0 Cubs lead to 2-1.

To the rescue:

Joe Mather, nicknamed “Super Joe” by manager Dale Sveum, hit the Cubs’ first pinch homer of the season and the third of his career in the sixth. It put the Cubs ahead 4-1 and proved key as the Dodgers fought back late.

“We feel like we’ve been playing really well, and we have,” Mather said. “We’re playing really good baseball.”

Rotation change:

Dale Sveum said right-hander Matt Garza is ill and will not make Saturday’s scheduled start. Instead, he’ll go Sunday if he’s OK.

Chris Volstad will pitch in place of Garza. Volstad will be going on normal rest, as he pitched Monday at Philadelphia.

You’re outta here:

Dale Sveum received his first ejection as Cubs manager in the top of the ninth. Reliever Rafael Dolis looked to have A.J. Ellis struck out, but umpire Marty Foster called the close pitch a ball. Ellis then was grazed by a pitch.

Sveum went out to talk with Foster, most likely about the called strike that wasn’t, and Foster tossed him.

“Just asking questions,” Sveum said. “I asked the wrong one.”

This and that:

Bryan LaHair went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He’s 15-for-37 in the streak and has reached safely in 22 straight games … Alfonso Soriano extended his hitting streak to eight games, going 3-for-3 with a walk. He’s 13-for-32 in the streak.