--RHP Carlos Zambrano may start Thursday at home against Atlanta, in the scheduled turn of RHP Sean Gallagher. The Cubs are off Monday, and they move Zambrano up a day so they can get their top starters the maximum number of starts before the All-Star break. Zambrano's loss Saturday at Los Angeles was his first in 11 starts and his second all year. He went 7-0 since losing April 11 at Philadelphia.
--1B Derrek Lee entered Sunday night's game against the Dodgers in a prolonged slump. Lee was 4-for-24 over the first six games of the West Coast trip, and all the hits were singles. His OBP had fallen to .337. He picked up a hit in three at-bats Sunday night but left a couple runners on base. --C Geovany Soto saw his batting average fall to .278 Sunday night by going 0-for-4, making him 2-for-19 on the trip. Soto still looks to be bothered by soreness and swelling in his left hand,
--When 3B Aramis Ramirez committed a throwing error in Saturday's 7-3 loss at Los Angeles, it was his first after going 43 straight games without an error. He opened the season with four errors in 15 games before settling down.
--SS Ryan Theriot continues to hit, but his fielding has been a problem. He dropped two balls Saturday, allowing Dodgers baserunners to steal. Manager Lou Piniella immediately had bench coach and former shortstop Alan Trammell study tapes with Theriot. Trammell suggested Theriot field throws in front of the bag instead of straddling the base. Ronny Cedeno started Sunday in place of Theriot, as manager Lou Piniella will used Monday's off-day to give Theriot two days of rest.
BY THE NUMBERS: 3.99 -- ERA of the Cubs' starting pitchers entering the week. Quality starts had been few and far between lately, and the bullpen had been carrying the pitching, with a 3.12 ERA through Sunday.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "These guys are competitors, and they want to do well, and they want to win. I'd rather have a guy who gets upset than a guy that does it with a smile, like he doesn't care." -- Manager Lou Piniella, after Carlos Zambrano's dugout tirade last Saturday in Los Angeles, where Zambrano took out his anger on a pair of Gatorade jugs.
