Wood now throwing strikes from the start

By Dave van Dyck | Tribune staff reporter

9:15 PM CDT, May 16, 2008

Remember in spring training when the Cubs were wondering whether Kerry Wood could pitch back-to-back days out of the bullpen?

Well, Friday he pitched his third straight game, a first for him since his conversion to the bullpen, and it resulted in his fifth straight save.

"I felt good," Wood said. "I got loose quickly, got ahead of guys and got them to swing at pitches I wanted them to swing at."

Wood has entered games throwing strikes from the beginning and it has resulted in seven if his last eight outings being scoreless.

"It works out better when you do it that way," he said. "The times when I came in and didn't stay aggressive and didn't get ahead of guys didn't work out as well, so it's real important to do that."

Good in a pinch?

With an all-right-handed lineup against lefty Tom Gorzelanny on Friday, the Cubs were overloaded with left-handers on the bench. So who was the first pinch-hitter used?

Pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who is a switch-hitter. Zambrano grounded out, but he is 13-for-28 this season.

"I don't list him [on the lineup card] but in the back of my mind I know I have another hitter," manager Lou Piniella said.

Would Piniella go so far as to use Zambrano as designated hitter in interleague play?

"No, we have people who can do that," Piniella said. "I wouldn't consider that, but he'll volunteer. When he doesn't pitch, he would volunteer to go hit in Iowa.

"I'm sure with this Hall of Fame game coming he will want to get in the home-run-hitting contest. Anything to do with the bat, Zambrano is ready to charge forward."

New order

While agreeing his pitchers have hit well, Piniella is so upset at the opposing bottom of the order getting on base that he has ordered some changes.

"I told [pitching coach Larry Rothschild] when we go over these reports [about] other teams, let's incorporate the good-hitting pitchers instead of just laying the ball in there," he said. "Let's pitch to them and get them out.

"In fact, we've asked our advance scouts to let us know which pitchers are [swinging the bat well]."

Extra innings

Reed Johnson played the entire game in center field Friday and might do the same the next two days with left-handers starting. "This gives [ Jim] Edmonds a little time to get some extra hitting. He hasn't been doing all that much for [the last] 10 days," Piniella said. … With 40,537 fans at Wrigley Field on Friday, the Cubs have passed the 1 million mark on their 25th home date, one game earlier than their previous record.

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