Manager Lou Piniella played it coy with his plans for the starting rotation this weekend before clarifying things after a 5-1 win over the Reds on Wednesday.
Right-hander Rich Harden, who just came over in a trade with Oakland, will start Saturday against the Giants. The Cubs will open the series with Jason Marquis and close it with Ryan Dempster. Harden's most recent start came Sunday, for Oakland against the White Sox. He spent a month on the disabled list earlier this year because of a shoulder strain, and the Cubs say they will be cautious with Harden so they can have him healthy for the remainder of the season. There was some question as to whether Harden would start at all this weekend, but Piniella's pronouncement ended that talk.
The weekend plans mean that left-hander Sean Marshall will go to the bullpen, despite turning in two quality starts in his last two appearances.
Piniella also mapped out his plans for after the break. The Cubs will open the second half with Ted Lilly, Carlos Zambrano and Dempster July 18-20 at Houston. Harden is penciled in for the July 21 series opener at Arizona.
CUBS 5, REDS 1: RHP Carlos Zambrano allowed only one hit, a second-inning home run, in eight innings as he won his 10th game against three losses. After Adam Dunn's homer, Zambrano set down 20 consecutive Reds to finish his night. 3B Aramis Ramirez put the Cubs ahead 2-1 in the sixth when he led off with his 16th homer of the season. RHP Carlos Marmol got into ninth-inning trouble, but RHP Kerry Wood bailed him out of a bases-loaded jam.
