Right-hander Anthony Young is still in the rotation despite a nagging elbow that put him on the disabled list for two weeks and forced him out of Tuesday night’s game after just four innings.
Manager Tom Trebelhorn has penciled in Young as the scheduled starter against the Cardinals on Sunday in St. Louis.
“He only has minimal discomfort now,” said trainer John Fierro, who examined Young before Wednesday night’s game against the Pirates. “He’ll do some tosses (Thursday) and we’ll see then how it responds.”
Young (4-6) has pitched just 16 innings since June 29.
Tuff going: Center-fielder Tuffy Rhodes, making just his second start since the All-Star break, continued to struggle. He bobbled a routine groundball and turned what should have been a harmless single into an unearned run. He finished 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and left the potential tying run stranded in the top of the eighth.
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Streak over: Mark Grace didn’t give himself much chance to extend his team-high hitting streak to 13 games. He was thrown out of the game in the fourth inning for arguing a third strike. Grace finished the night 0 for 2 and snapped his 12-game hitting streak. Still, he is hitting .444 (24 for 54) with eight doubles, two homers and nine RBIs in the last 13 games.
Breaking a string: The Cubs’ two errors were the most in a game since July 15 in Cincinnati. After that, the Cubs reeled off a club record-tying eight error-free games.
The best: In a poll by Baseball America of National League managers, Randy Myers got the nod as the league’s best reliever, and Grace was picked as the league’s top defensive first baseman. Other notable Cubs: Pitcher Willie Banks has the third-best changeup (behind Atlanta’s Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux); Steve Buechele is the league’s third-best defensive third baseman (behind San Francisco’s Matt Williams and Houston’s Ken Caminiti); and, despite back problems, Shawon Dunston has the second-best infield arm (behind Caminiti).