Les Lancaster will make his first start Saturday since September.
He hopes he can go five innings. Manager Jim Essian wouldn`t mind six or seven.
Lancaster`s success will ride on his ability to control his forkball, which he has developed this season.
”Hopefully, I`ll be able to control it and throw it any time in the count,” he said. ”I don`t think it`s ever going to be my best pitch; my best pitch is my fastball.
”Right now, nobody knows I throw it, so I can catch them off guard.”
Nobody but San Diego, that is. Lancaster retired all 10 Padres he faced in Wrigley Field last week, fanning six of them. ”The forkball worked then, but they`ll be looking for it this time,” Lancaster said.
Lancaster is one of the hottest arms in the streaking Cub bullpen. He`s allowed only 11 hits and two earned runs in his last 19 innings, a 0.95 earned-run average.
– Think the Cubs looked forward to visiting San Diego? Andre Dawson is a lifetime .311 hitter at Jack Murphy Stadium, with 16 home runs and 61 RBIs. And Mark Grace brought a .323 lifetime average in the ballpark into Friday night`s game.
”I`d better hit there, because that`s home,” said Grace, who played at San Diego State and grew up in nearby Tustin.
– Speaking of Cub relievers, they have a combined 2.84 ERA, the second-lowest in the National League. Going into Friday night, they had allowed only 132 hits and 68 walks in 186 2/3 innings while striking out 141.
– Rick Sutcliffe played long toss with head trainer John Fierro for 10 minutes Friday afternoon and reported no pain in his right shoulder. Sutcliffe is on the 15-day disabled list.
– Gary Scott, batting only .165 when the Cubs demoted him in May, has eight hits and five RBIs in his last 15 at-bats.
