Cubs @ Padres - 6/3

[aTrUeCUBsFaN]

06/03/2005 12:59 AM ET
Cubs go for eighth straight victory
Chicago (28-24) at San Diego (33-21), 9:05 p.m. CT
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com

Sergio Mitre should feel right at home in San Diego.

Mitre will start on Friday night for the Cubs in the second game of their four-game series at San Diego against the West Division-leading Padres.

The right-hander pitched for San Diego City College, so he's very familiar with Southern California. Right now, it's "June gloom" time in San Diego, when there are heavy overcast skies in the morning. It won't bother Mitre.

Mitre has made two starts, and is still looking for that first win. He'll have a tough opponent on Friday; Adam Eaton is unbeaten at home, with a 4-0 record and 2.96 ERA.

Mitre can only hope the Cubs keep swinging the bats, which has helped propel them during this West Coast swing.

"We were playing pretty good before [we started the trip], but we were just a little bit short," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "Now we're just getting it down. That's the only thing you can pinpoint.

"Our offense has been better. Our offense has been much better. That helps a lot when you're scoring runs. It takes pressure off your pitching staff. Scoring runs can solve a lot of ills."

Pitching matchup
SD: RHP Adam Eaton
• 7-1, 3.58 ERA in 2005
• 1-1, 9.90 ERA vs. CHC in 2004

CHC: RHP Sergio Mitre
• 0-0, 5.84 ERA in 2005
• 1-0, 4.50 ERA in 2004 vs. SD

Player to watch
Derrek Lee is 3-for-9 against Eaton, and can pad his already stellar offensive numbers with another good game. Lee hit .222 last year at PETCO Park, but went 3-for-3 on Thursday.

Quotable
"The batting average is the hard thing, but [talk about winning the Triple Crown] is way down the line. We don't want to put pressure on him. We want him to keep doing what he's doing, and [not to] start thinking about anything like that." -- Baker on Lee, who leads the National League in batting average, home runs and RBIs

On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• SD: Channel 4/Cablemas
• CHC: Comcast Sports Net

On radio
• SD: Mighty 1090 AM, XEMO 860 (Spanish)
• CHC: WGN 720 AM

Quick hits
Michael Barrett is 0-for-5 against Eaton, Henry Blanco 0-for-4, Jeromy Burnitz 8-for-20, Todd Hollandsworth 9-for-18, Corey Patterson 2-for-10, Neifi Perez 7-for-24, Aramis Ramirez 3-for-13 and Todd Walker 8-for-17. ... Ramon Hernandez is 1-for-3 with a home run against Mitre. ... The Cubs swept the Padres at PETCO last year, and were 4-2 overall against San Diego.

On deck
• Saturday: Cubs at Padres, 9:05 p.m. CT
• Sunday: Cubs at Padres, 3:35 p.m. CT
• Monday: Cubs vs. Blue Jays, 7:05 p.m. CT

Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[aTrUeCUBsFaN]

Hopefully Sergio Mitre will have a better outting than last time.