Piniella: Starters stopping too soon

CINCINNATI -- A starting rotation that has been the backbone of the Cubs all season has started to show cracks, and the Cubs might consider adjustments if the trend continues another turn through the rotation.

Nothing immediate is in the works, manager Lou Piniella said, and Sean Marshall gave the Cubs some relief by pitching into the seventh inning Saturday. But four times over the last nine games, starters have lasted just five innings, including Jason Marquis and Rich Hill in losses Thursday and Friday. That has overexposed the younger end of the bullpen.

''What we really need is for our starting pitching to go a little deeper in the ballgame. That'll take care of a lot of it,'' said Piniella, who a few days earlier raised right-handed prospect Sean Gallagher as possible addition to a thin bullpen at some point.

''We've had [two] five-inning starts on this road trip, and it puts a little bit more of a strain on things,'' Piniella said. ''I can't continue to pitch these [relievers] two innings here and two innings there just to win every ballgame we can, because sooner or later you pay the piper. ... We're starting to run into a few problems, a couple of leaks.''

Closer Ryan Dempster said for the first time since before he went on the disabled list last month, he feels like himself.

He was red hot, with a fastball that reached 97 mph, just before he got hurt five weeks ago during the White Sox series.

''It's almost like a quick spring training,'' he said of his brief rehab assignment and his first week off the DL. ''The nice part is, coming back, at least I feel like I didn't lose command. So it was just a matter of getting the crispness back on my fastball and breaking ball. My breaking ball came back first, and my fastball seemed like it was getting there.''

Until Friday, when there seemed to be more life on everything.

''You can tell when you're warming up and playing catch,'' he said. ''The ball's coming out of my hand better and just a lot livelier than it was a week ago.''

After saying Wednesday that he planned to play his two catchers every other day, Piniella had Jason Kendall starting for the third straight day Saturday and said he plans to do what he usually does: play the hot bat.

''I wouldn't put too much stock in what you're seeing,'' he said. ''I'm going to catch whoever's swinging the bat. This alternating thing seems like a fairly good idea, unless somebody gets really hot.''

Kendall is 5-for-11 with an RBI in the last three games. Piniella said Koyie Hill will catch Carlos Zambrano this afternoon.

Matt Murton was originally in the lineup for what would have been his first start since June 12 -- until Piniella gave Cliff Floyd today off instead of Saturday and bumped Murton from right field.