CUBS IN BRIEF: Piniella, Hendry seek righty bat
PITTSBURGH -- Another rough day scoring runs, in particular against a left-hander, has the Cubs looking even a little harder at trying to add a right-handed hitter to the roster before they resume play Friday.
The Cubs had a 4-3 road trip against bad teams in Washington and Pittsburgh but blew a chance to gain at least another game on first-place Milwaukee in the division-- mostly because they were held to six runs combined in the three losses.
And two of those losses came against left-handers as the Cubs fell to 8-14 when a lefty starts for the opponent. They are hitting just .243 against lefties (.277 against righties).
''[General manager Jim Hendry] and I will talk during the All-Star break,'' manager Lou Piniella said, ''and see if we can look at the possibility of getting a right-handed batter in here so it can help us out against left-handed pitching.''
''Sooner or later, we've got to start scoring a few runs that way,'' Piniella said. ''If you score 6-7 runs a ballgame, it doesn't really matter. The problem is, it's hard to score six runs consistently if you're not getting an occasional dinger. So I hope that part of it perks up.''
Even the National League's player of the month for June, who had 11 homers in the month, hasn't hit one since June 24.
''We'll see what happens in the second half,'' Alfonso Soriano said. ''The more important thing is everybody has to stay healthy and working hard to put this team in the playoffs.''
• • Catcher Henry Blanco, who had a promising session of full-speed throwing to second base Sunday, also could start his rehab assignment next weekend -- and catch Miller at Peoria.