CUBS IN BRIEF: Boos irk D-Lee, Floyd

Booing is part of baseball, but the boos that showered Ryan Dempster on Friday after he gave up four runs in the ninth drew a different kind of jeer from Dempster's teammates.

''It isn't right,'' Derrek Lee said. ''Demp's as good as you'll get on our team. That wasn't right. He doesn't deserve it. He's the wrong guy to boo.''

Cliff Floyd said the boos were ''disappointing.''

''We're all in this together, and when you boo on one guy, you boo on the whole team,'' he said. ''At home, we hope we always have that 26th man [the crowd]. [The fans] can be ticked off, but at the same time, we need that 26th man.''

Dempster entered Friday's game against the New York Mets with a 2.95 ERA and 17 saves in 19 opportunities, though he wasn't in a save situation with the score tied in the ninth. Opponents were hitting only .196 against him.

''I threw some good pitches and some bad ones, and they took advantage,'' said Dempster, who has allowed 17 of 35 batters to reach base since coming off the disabled list on July 20 (left oblique strain). ''I can't go out and give up four runs in an inning. I'm not that bad. I'm upset with myself, but I have to come back and do my job the next time.''

Sean Marshall was wearing glasses Friday while recovering from a scratched cornea in his right eye that required attention after his early exit from Thursday's game. The left-hander said his eye wasn't the problem in his abbreviated start.

''I could see fine,'' he said. ''I just put some balls down the middle. Any big-league hitter will hit those. I just have to do a better job the next time.''

Marshall, who normally wears contact lenses, said his eye was bothering him when he removed his contact Wednesday night, and that's apparently when he scratched the cornea.

''It got a little infected. But I could see [during the game]. I had some eyedrops, and I was able to see fine. I just didn't pitch the way I should have and wish I could take that back.''

The back-to-back short outings by Rich Hill on Wednesday and Marshall on Thursday added to the strain on the bullpen. Cubs starters have pitched into the seventh inning only once in the last nine games -- on July 29 when Carlos Zambrano faced the Cincinnati Reds.

Manager Lou Piniella's pitching staff stands at 12, with no ''long man.''

''I don't think I have a true long man here,'' Piniella said. ''We're not going to look at it from a long-guy status. We'll mix and match, but I don't have a guy I could use for three innings. Let's hope our starting pitching gives us some more innings and we don't have to worry about it.''

The bullpen got a fresh arm with the activation of Kerry Wood, whom Piniella plans to use in middle innings when necessary. Wood didn't appear Friday.

As expected, rookie Rocky Cherry was sent back to Class AAA Iowa to make room for Wood. The Cubs also transferred injured pitcher Angel Guzman (strained elbow) to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Wood on the 40-man roster.

The Cubs skipped batting practice Friday.

''The weather's been hot,'' Piniella said. ''If you need too much batting practice in August, something's wrong. We'll try to keep the guys off the field, but we'll take BP [today].''

•  •  Friday's game marked the first time the Cubs and Mets ever faced each other as late as August with both teams in first place.

•  •   Though Zambrano is hitting .281,Piniella said he never would bat Zambrano higher in the order.

''I think it would be embarrassing for a position player to hit behind a pitcher,'' he said.

WALKING TALL

2. Orioles 439

3. Rangers 439

4. Giants 414

5. Devil Rays 397

6. Diamondbacks 392

7. CUBS 386

8. Yankees 377

9. Tigers 376

10. Phillies 371

17. WHITE SOX 347

30. Indians 279