Piniella shakes things up at the top
Mark DeRosa became the fifth No. 2 hitter of the season in an effort to improve on the 17 runs scored by the top two spots in those 13 games.
''One thing that we haven't done all that well here -- we've done it sporadically -- is getting our 1 or 2 hitters on for the middle part of our lineup,'' Piniella said. ''Let's see if [DeRosa] can take hold of that and go from there.''
DeRosa, a former seventh-round draft pick of the Braves who still owns a home in the Atlanta area, delivered a solo home run in his first at-bat as a visiting player at Turner Field. It was his only hit in four at-bats.
Before Wednesday, Cubs leadoff hitters (Alfonso Soriano for all but one game) were batting .236 with only two walks and seven runs scored. The No. 2 hitters were batting .327 with three walks and 10 runs scored, but most of that production came in Ryan Theriot's 8-for-12 series against the Cincinnati Reds last weekend. The No. 2 average was .236 in the other 10 games.
''We're still poking,'' Piniella said. ''Once we find the right combination and it works, you won't see changes. We'll stay with it, believe me.''
Rookie Felix Pie was in the leadoff spot for the second time in as many games, but Piniella said that doesn't mean he'll stay in that spot until Soriano returns. Pie went 1-for-4 with a triple, a walk and two runs scored.
''Possibly against the left-hander [Mark Redman tonight], we can move him to the back side of the lineup,'' Piniella said.
SORIANO IMPROVES: Soriano took batting practice for the first time since straining his left hamstring Monday against the San Diego Padres and predicted a return to the lineup this weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals.
''Depending how I feel, maybe Friday,'' said Soriano, who also stretched with the team before batting practice and jogged lightly.
He said the injury feels similar to a hamstring strain in 2005 that kept him out less than a week.
PITCH HITTERS? Don't be surprised to see pitchers Jason Marquis and Carlos Zambrano pinch-hitting, as Marquis did Wednesday. He lined out hard to left field for Neal Cotts in the ninth.
''Why not?'' Piniella said. ''They both swing the bat.''
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa occasionally used Marquis as a pinch hitter, and he is 6-for-22 (.273) with a double and a triple in that role. Zambrano is 0-for-4 as a pinch hitter.
NOT THE PROBLEM: For all the problems Will Ohman has had in the last week, the Cubs' bullpen otherwise had been on a roll entering Wednesday, underscored by the eight consecutive scoreless innings the relievers pitched before the 14th inning Tuesday against the Padres.
That roll ended when Scott Eyre allowed three runs in the seventh inning against the Braves, but Ryan Dempster, Michael Wuertz and Cotts have yet to give up a run.
''Ohman will get himself straightened out,'' Piniella said. ''He's struggled, but if you've got six or seven pieces out there and all but one is pitching well, you take that all the time. So I'm not complaining.''
SHORT HOPS: Minor-league pitcher Mark Prior's appointment with Alabama surgeon James Andrews still has not been scheduled, and scheduling conflicts might push it back to sometime after next week. Prior, who left his extended spring-training start last Thursday after only two innings because of soreness in his right shoulder, has been examined by Los Angeles surgeon Lewis Yocum but is seeking another opinion.
• Pitcher Jeff Samardzija, the ex-Notre Dame receiver, failed to earn his first pro victory for Class A Daytona. He left after five innings with a 4-2 lead, but Daytona lost 6-4.