Despite a bad blowup by closer Kevin Gregg on Saturday, manager Lou Piniella says there are no plans to mess with his late-inning men.
In other words, right-hander Carlos Marmol will remain the setup man, and Gregg will continue to close. "We're not going to go into that," Piniella said Sunday. "We've got our plan set. Barring an injury, we're going to stay the way we are. We talked a week or 10 days ago about really concentrating on putting a good bullpen together, and we're starting to do just that."
Gregg gave up four runs on four hits Saturday as he blew a 4-0 lead before the Cubs came back to win.
Marmol has looked good of late, and righty Angel Guzman is earning Piniella's trust in the seventh inning. The Cubs need more consistency out of right-hander Aaron Heilman and for lefty Neal Cotts to find a groove.
ASTROS 6, CUBS 5: The Cubs fell short in the ninth inning, as they scored twice to make it close. 1B Derrek Lee doubled, homered and singled twice. RHP Rich Harden gave up four runs in the fourth inning and lasted six, as he ran his pitch count to 112.
