Slumping Cubs hope to get trip off their shoulders

Pitchers are lined up, but middle of order has to wake up vs. D-backs

How good are the Cubs? How bad is the baseball they're playing right now?

They're about to find out quick.

In a much-anticipated series -- perhaps much more anticipated in these parts about two weeks ago -- the Arizona Diamondbacks bring the best record in the major leagues to Wrigley Field, looking to pile on against a team they swept out of the playoffs last October.

The Cubs used their day off Thursday to line up their top pitchers for the series, but they're riding a 4-9 slide in which they've suffered breakdowns in all three areas of the game.

Most recently, the middle of the order has stopped hitting after a torrid opening month. Even though the Cubs rank second in the majors to Arizona in runs (201-195), they averaged only 3.5 runs on their just-concluded 2-4 road trip to St. Louis and Cincinnati.

''We haven't hit the way we like to,'' said cleanup hitter Aramis Ramirez, who missed three of those games after being hit on the wrist by a pitch Friday night. ''But St. Louis is in first place for a reason, and [Cincinnati] has some guys who can pitch.''

''We just need to regroup and pick it back up,'' slumping No. 3 hitter Derrek Lee said. ''There's still a lot of games to play.''

And the next 10 are at home, making up the longest homestand of the season and offering at least one reason for optimism about turning things around. The Cubs are 11-6 at Wrigley and hitting about 70 points better there than on the road.

But it's going to take more than home cooking to reverse a slump that saw the heart of the Cubs' order hit .206 with six RBI during the six-game trip -- .169 with five RBI if you take out Geovany Soto's 3-for-3 night as a one-game fill-in at No. 5.

Whether it's the lack of hitting or the fielding breakdowns that cost the Cubs at least two games in the last week or the pitching problems that cost Rich Hill a demotion to the minors, manager Lou Piniella says the name or quality of the next opponent is the least of his worries right now.

''It doesn't matter who you play,'' Piniella said when asked about the D-backs coming to town. ''If you play good baseball, you beat the good teams as well as the teams that are not as good. And if you don't play good baseball, you're going to lose to anybody.

''So it doesn't really matter. It's picking it up and playing good baseball. And if we do that, we've got the talent here to beat any team that we play.''

NOTES: First baseman Conor Jackson, who missed Arizona's game Thursday against Philadelphia after banging his head in a collision at the bag Wednesday, is expected back in the lineup today. Second baseman Orlando Hudson (hamstring) also might return this weekend.

• • The Cubs are expected to activate lefty reliever Scott Eyre (elbow) from the disabled list Saturday.