Cubs not exactly road warriors

PITTSBURGH - The Cubs are real homebodies, but nobody seems to know why.

Manager Lou Piniella lamented the disparity between the team's offense at Wrigley Field and on the road after Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to the Pirates. It was the second game in a row that the Cubs had scored only 2 runs.

Entering Thursday's finale, the Cubs were batting .297 at home and just .251 on the road. They had averaged 5.7 runs per game at Wrigley Field and 3.9 on the road.

"For me personally, it doesn't mean anything," said left fielder Alfonso Soriano, who entered Thursday batting .405 at home and .255 away from the Friendly Confines. "I feel good at home and on the road, too. For whatever reason, we play better at home because I think everybody feels comfortable at home.

"Sooner or later, we're going to be the same team on the road and at home, too."

Piniella said he had no explanation, either, but he did tie success to the middle of the lineup - meaning Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez - getting back on track.

"Teams usually play better at home," Piniella said. "But the disparity in our offensive numbers, I don't really have an answer for it. I know when the wind blows out at Wrigley, it's an inviting park to hit in. We got to find a way to score more than 2 runs on the road. We've been doing that consistently too many times. It's just hard to win on the road with just 2 runs.

"I wish I had an answer, I really do. The middle part of our lineup hits ... we'll get better in a hurry."