--LHP Scott Eyre improved to 2-0 facing one batter. Eyre struck out the Rockies' Omar Quintanilla in the seventh inning. With LHP Neal Cotts up from the minor leagues, it appears now that manager Lou Piniella will use Eyre as a left-handed specialist, facing one or two batters an inning. Cotts will be a middle man capable of going one or two innings.
--RHP Carlos Marmol struck out the side in Friday's eighth inning, giving him five strikeouts in a row going back to Thursday's game. Marmol has struck out 52 and allowed 14 hits in 35 innings. --Micah Hoffpauir entered Friday's game for 1B Derrek Lee in the sixth inning and wound up going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Hoffpauir, who has taken the place of veteran pinch hitter Daryle Ward (disabled list), has made a positive impression on manager Lou Piniella, who said Hoffpauir is doing more than holding his own.
--RF Kosuke Fukudome hit his third home run of the season in Friday's 10-9 win over the Rockies. It was Fukudome's first homer since May 10. All three of Fukudome's homers this year have come at Wrigley Field. Fukudome has 195 career home runs, including his totals from Japan.
--Mark DeRosa filled in for Aramis Ramirez at third base and had the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh to lift the Cubs to a 10-9 come-from-behind victory over the Rockies. "I felt like I haven't had a big hit for the team yet," DeRosa said. "These are situations you live for." DeRosa entered Friday's game 2-for-10 on the homestand.
BY THE NUMBERS: 2 -- Most losses in a row for the Cubs this year through May 25. The Cubs were the only major league club not to have lost three games in a row this year.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "You can see our division alone, the Central, you don't have a team in the division playing under .500 at home. That tells you something. What it tells me is it's going to be a scramble." -- Manager Lou Piniella, on his team's difficulty winning on the road.
