For Marmol, the more he works, the merrier

May 11, 2008

It only seems like Carlos Marmol pitches every day.

Actually, even with his scoreless ninth inning Saturday—stretching his scoreless streak to 102/3 innings—he hasn't cracked the National League's top 10 in pitching appearances.

"It doesn't bother me," Marmol said of being a workhorse. "I feel great, ready to go. In my situation I feel better pitching [frequently]."

Marmol has pitched 23 innings in 18 games. Interestingly, manager Lou Piniella has had him in for the final outs of ninth innings twice recently, perhaps grooming him for an eventual role as closer, something he would relish.

"Why not? Some day," he said.

Ted's a hit

Even 24 hours later, the talk at Wrigley Field was about Ted Lilly's game-tying single Friday, one that Piniella said "sort of surprised me a little bit."

Asked about Lilly's rather awkward, bail-out swing, Piniella replied:

"Put it this way: He wouldn't sell many hitting tapes if he were the instructor. It's choppy at best. I think he's trying a little bit of a Fukudome swing, running to first base and then swinging. … Lilly better just keep pitching."

Of course, fellow starter Carlos Zambrano relishes his at-bats and has been used as a pinch-hitter.

"The other day when I took him out after eight innings, he wasn't happy," Piniella said. "But he was unhappiest the most because he wasn't getting his at-bat in the bottom of the inning."

Decisions, decisions

Here's the dilemma for Arizona manager Bob Melvin, what with Sunday's forecast of rain: Start Randy Johnson and risk losing him during a delay, or risk reinjuring his repaired back.

His decision:

"I don't know. I don't know what the recourse is. If I do bump him back, we have an off day [Monday] and we have guys who are getting an extra day already. We'll have to take a harder look at the weather [in the morning]. They're in the same position over there with Zambrano. Hopefully it's either A or B, we either play or we don't."

Johnson is 12-0 lifetime against the Cubs, but the Cubs are 7-3 against left-handed starting pitchers this year.

Extra innings

Barring rainouts, former Cub Greg Maddux and the Padres will face Ryan Dempster on Thursday. … Derrek Lee has a nine-game home hitting streak during which he is hitting .324 with three homers. … Iowa first baseman Micah Hoffpauir hit safely in his first three games back from the disabled list.