Trachsel will get another shot

Steve Trachsel was hit hard in his second outing for the Cubs on Sunday in Pittsburgh, but he gets another chance in the rotation Thursday against the Houston Astros.

''I don't think we have much choice,'' manager Lou Piniella said Monday. ''He didn't throw that many pitches [47] in Pittsburgh.''

Trachsel, 0-2 since rejoining the Cubs in August, didn't get out of the second inning, giving up six runs in the eventual 10-5 loss. He has a 10.12 ERA in two starts since being acquired from Baltimore, though his first outing was respectable (three runs over six innings).

Trachsel will pitch on three days of rest, something Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly also will be asked to do in two weeks after their next starts. The rotation for the next two series will have Jason Marquis starting tonight in Houston, then Rich Hill and Trachsel. Zambrano will start Friday against the Cardinals in St. Louis. Sean Marshall and Lilly will pitch the Saturday doubleheader, and Marquis will finish the series Sunday.

Hill is then slated to start Monday at home against Cincinnati, with Lilly and Zambrano to follow on short rest. ''Then everything will be back on track,'' Piniella said, the Cubs having two remaining off days in the final nine days of the regular season.

''We got caught in all these games, and at the end of the year we have days off,'' Piniella said. ''I don't know why we need two days off the last nine games of the season but play 34 out of 35 days in a stretch [now.] I don't understand that, but look, I'm not a schedule-maker.''

The Cardinals have the opposite situation, with no remaining off days facing their already-strapped pitching staff.

Monday's makeup game of the Aug. 19 rainout put both teams in a pitching bind -- part of the reason general manager Jim Hendry made the deal for Trachsel on Sept. 3 in the first place.

Monday's attendance of 40,358 pushed the season total past the 3 million mark (3,007,555) for the fourth consecutive season. It also set a record for reaching 3 million in 75 home dates, the fastest ever. In 2004 and 2006, the Cubs drew 3 million fans in the 77th home game.

With six home dates remaining, they will easily break the all-time attendance mark of 3,170,184 set in 2004.

The Cubs' starting staff hasn't shown the consistency of late that propelled the team in June and July, but the starters shouldn't feel fatigued.

''I think our pitchers are fairly fresh, they really are,'' Piniella said. ''We've watched their pitch counts all summer, and we're in pretty good shape as far as that goes. We have enough pitchers now with all these call-ups so that if somebody's struggling or we have a big lead -- which we haven't had -- we can shorten our starting pitcher up. There's no problem.''

Geovany Soto hasn't disappointed since his call-up Sept. 1 after winning Pacific Coast League player of the year honors. The catcher is hitting .353 with a home run and three RBI and has thrown out two of six baserunners.

''I don't feel pressure. It's the same game,'' he said. ''But it's just more exciting because we're fighting for the playoffs.''

Piniella still plans to give veteran Jason Kendall -- who is hitting .287 with the Cubs but has thrown out only five of 52 baserunners -- the majority of starts.

''Soto is swinging the bat well and it's tempting to put him in every day, but we have a veteran, so we'll mix the young man in,'' he said.

The Cardinals have hit a rough spot at the worst time. Since right fielder Rick Ankiel came under fire Friday after reports surfaced that he received human-growth hormone in 2004, the Cardinals have lost four straight, and their feel-good power hitter is in a 1-for-14 funk. Ankiel struck out in each of his four at-bats Monday and was assaulted with shouts of ''HGH, HGH'' each time he stepped to the plate.

Joe West's umpiring crew spent a long time in Chicago, working the four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers last week, then moving to U.S. Cellular Field for the weekend series between the White Sox and Minnesota before returning to Wrigley Field Monday for the makeup game between the Cubs and Cardinals. Umpire Ed Rapuano, working at home plate Monday, was shaken up in the seventh when Alfonso Soriano's bat splintered and hit him in the shoulder. He remained in the game.

Contributing: Chris De Luca