The Cubs have discovered patience at the plate, as evidenced by their 174 walks entering Monday, second in the NL. They added nine walks in a 12-3 pasting of the Padres Monday. In the past, the Cubs have downplayed the importance of walks and on-base percentage, preferring an aggressive approach. Now in his second year, Lou Piniella has preached patience and getting a good pitch to hit.

At home, the Cubs entered Monday leading the majors with a .399 OBP and in slugging at .502.

Piniella seemed at a loss for why the Cubs have hit so well at home, where the weather has turned cold lately.

"I don't have any answers to it," he said. "With some of our players, there has been a fairly big (disparity) in batting averages. But look, it's too early to draw any conclusions."

CUBS 12, PADRES 3: The Cubs sent 10 men to the plate in each of the fifth and sixth innings. They scored six runs in the fifth and five in the sixth, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to blow the game open. Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the fifth. Carlos Zambrano (6-1, 2.03 ERA) turned in his eighth "quality start" in nine outings, working seven innings and giving up six hits and three runs.