Manager Lou Piniella would like his starters to go deeper into games, but he said Friday he believes that's coming.
Of greater urgency to Piniella, however, is getting his middle relievers to go longer. "One thing I'd like to see us do is when we get our middle people into ballgames, boy, if we could just get a couple innings," Piniella said. "That would make things a whole lot easier. It really would."
The Cubs have leaned heavily on right-handers Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol lately, and Bob Howry has started to pick up more work. Coupled with the starters not going deep into games lately, the Cubs have had a bit of a crunch.
Partly for that reason, they went to a 13-man pitching staff earlier this week.
"I think we'll get deeper into ballgames than we have, obviously, than we have this last turn and a half through the rotation," Piniella said. "Carrying 13 pitchers, believe it or not, has eased my fears about going 14 innings and running out of pitchers. Every game we play is a close one."
DODGERS 3, CUBS 0: Once again, the Cubs could not get a quality start. RHP Sean Gallagher lasted five innings Friday, giving up three hits and two runs. He ran his pitch count to 89. Walks contributed to both runs against Gallagher, who walked three. None of that mattered because Cubs batters managed just four hits and struck out 11 times against Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda. Cubs hitters also failed to draw a walk.
