Piniella: Young players will see game action
ST. LOUIS - Lou Piniella returned to the helm of the Cubs on Friday night, and he noticed some crew members had come and gone before watching his team lose 6-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals.
"Yeah, I saw where we had three or four different changes," said Piniella, who spent most of the week tending to his mother in Tampa, Fla. "We have the catcher, (Welington) Castillo, (Darwin) Barney at second base, (Marcos) Mateo. Anybody else? (Micah) Hoffpauir was here. We traded (Mike) Fontenot. Quite few changes."
The bottom line is that a whole lot of younger players will see action between now and the end of the season as the Cubs play out the string.
In fact, 15 rookies have appeared in games for the Cubs, who have a record of 48-68 and are 18 games behind the first-place Cardinals in the National League Central.
Nine of those rookies have made their major-league debuts this year.
"I think it's important for our organization to evaluate these kids and get a look at them," Piniella said. "We'll give them some playing time. We've got quite a few of them here now.
"But I think it's important that we play some of these kids and give them an opportunity to gain some experience and make a name for themselves."
Rookie of the Year candidate Starlin Castro was in the lineup, and his double-play partner was Barney, making his first big-league start.
On the mound was Thomas Diamond (0-3), and it was another short night for the big right-hander, who lasted 4 innings, giving up 6 hits and 4 runs.
The Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a double by Marlon Byrd, but Diamond ran his pitch count to 86 over his 4 innings.
Albert Pujols homered in the first for the Cardinals. It was his 29th homer. The Cardinals scored twice in the third and once in the fourth.
"The first couple innings were all right, and just from there, location went out the window," Diamond said.
The Cubs got 2 scoreless innings from another rookie, Casey Coleman, who may end up supplanting Diamond in the rotation, although Piniella wouldn't commit to that Friday.
"He wasn't really sharp," Piniella said of Diamond. "I expected him to pitch better today. St. Louis is a good ballclub, and they have a good lineup. He just wasn't sharp. Behind. Wasn't locating well. We'll see. No decision's going to need to be made today."
<p class="factbxheadblack">Bruce Miles' game tracker</p>
<p class="News">Cardinals 6, Cubs 3</p>
<p class="News"><b>Road to 100 losses:</b> The Cubs are now on pace to finish with a record of 67-95.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Diamond in the rough:</b> Cubs rookie starter Thomas Diamond gave up 6 hits and 4 runs in 4 innings. Of the 86 pitches he threw, 34 came in the third inning, when the Cardinals scored twice. Diamond is 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA.</p>
<p class="News"><b>No jaking it:</b> Jake Westbrook won his first game for the Cardinals in his third start since being traded from Cleveland on July 31. He's 7-7 on the year. It was his first career win in a National League park. </p>
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<li><a href="/story/?id=400943">Castro turning heads with batting title pursuit <span class="date"> [8/13/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=400944">Grateful Piniella returns to the dugout<span class="date"> [8/13/10]</span></a></li>
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