Cubs will give Grabow (9.26 ERA) some rest

CINCINNATI - Left-handed reliever John Grabow hasn't been effective for much of the early going, and on Saturday, he had an MRI on his left knee.

"His knee was bothering him last night," said manager Lou Piniella. "It's been bothering him for a while. We got the results. There was nothing structurally wrong. We're going to rest him for a couple days or so and see how he is when we get back Monday to Chicago."

Grabow is 0-2 with a 9.26 ERA and a 2.14 WHIP.

"He told me he had trouble shoving off his back knee, so he's probably not getting as much stuff on the ball that he normally does," Piniella said.

The Cubs activated reliever Esmailin Caridad off the disabled list and optioned reliever Jeff Gray to Class AAA Iowa. Caridad had been out since April 14 with a strained right forearm.

No problem: Third baseman Aramis Ramirez has been in a season-long funk so far, but the Cubs say he is working fine with new hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo.

"Yeah, he is (working), going to the cage, asking for ideas," Jaramillo said. "But you know what? This guy has hit by himself his whole career. All of a sudden I come in, and why is he supposed to listen? I've got to win him over, prove myself to him, and that's what I'm trying to do right now, get a rapport going for him."

Manager Lou Piniella said when he was a player, he took ideas that worked for him from his hitting coaches.

"Remember, veteran players that have had a lot of success doing things their way, they tend to try to work the difficulties themselves," Piniella said. "They know what they've done in the past that works."

On-base machine: Catcher Geovany Soto entered Saturday with an on-base percentage of .516, which would lead the National League if he had enough plate appearances. He came into Saturday's game 2 shy of qualifying for the league lead, held by the Phillies' Carlos Ruiz, at .452.

"I just try to have good at-bats, try to get on base for the pitcher, hitting eighth or seventh," Soto said. "Being on base is taking what they give me."

Pain in the neck: Lou Piniella said Carlos Silva should be OK to make his next start, despite feeling some neck tightness during Friday's game.

"He mentioned that to our trainer before the ballgame that he had tightness up in his neck," Piniella said. "He pitched 5 innings and got himself a win. But he should be fine."