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Brewers-Cubs Preview

Apr 12, 2010 - 5:05 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Milwaukee (2-3) at Chicago (2-3), 2:20 p.m. EDT

After a disappointing road trip to begin the year, the Chicago Cubs are set to open their 95th season at Wrigley Field.

They sure hope their offense and relief pitching will be there waiting for them.

The Cubs try put a sluggish start behind them Monday when they open a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at the Friendly Confines.

Chicago (2-4) opened 2010 with three-game sets in Atlanta and Cincinnati, but managed only one victory in each of those stops - especially frustrating, considering the Cubs led in all six contests.

A lack of offense and erratic bullpen was largely to blame.

Chicago is batting .197, and has left at least 12 runners on base in two of the last three games. Cleanup hitter Aramis Ramirez is batting .130 with nine strikeouts, Alfonso Soriano is hitting .143 with one RBI and Geovany Soto is 1 for 11.

Despite the meager production, the Cubs have still been in position to win, but the bullpen has yielded eight runs over 5 2-3 innings in the last three losses.

Following Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Reds, in which Cincinnati scored all its runs in the seventh and eighth, manager Lou Piniella said he's considering making some lineup changes.

"We'll see what happens," Piniella told the Cubs' official Web site. "I'm going to go home, think about it. It's nice to be going home. I'm looking forward to the home opener, and hopefully, we'll start swinging the bats and put some runs on the board and win with more frequency."

Playing in front of the home crowd has proven to be beneficial to Chicago in recent years.

The Cubs went 46-34 at Wrigley last season - including 5-3 against Milwaukee - and are an NL-best 145-97 at home since 2007.

Scheduled starter Ryan Dempster (0-0, 1.50 ERA) has been a big part of Chicago's home success, going 21-7 with a 3.32 ERA in 34 starts since being inserted in the team's starting rotation in 2008. The right-hander has been at his best against the Brewers, posting a 2.48 ERA in winning all five home starts against them in the past two years.

Dempster pitched well in his season debut against Atlanta on Wednesday, limiting the Braves to one run and three hits with nine strikeouts in six innings, but the bullpen couldn't hold a one-run lead and Chicago lost 3-2.

The Brewers, who went 7-10 against the Cubs last season, arrive in Chicago with some bullpen concerns of their own.

Trevor Hoffman entered Sunday night's game against St. Louis with Milwaukee leading 7-4 in the ninth, but baseball's career leader with 593 saves unraveled again. The Cardinals tied the game with two homers off Hoffman, who has yielded at least one run in three of his four appearances this season, before former Cub Casey McGehee bailed out the future Hall of Famer by homering in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Brewers to an 8-7 victory.

Although Milwaukee (3-3) won in dramatic fashion, Hoffman felt uneasy.

"It's embarrassing," he said. "I think it has to concern everybody, to be honest with you, but the bottom line is you've got to regroup and be ready to go (Monday). Quick turnaround."

Doug Davis (0-0, 9.00) is set to take the mound Monday after a shaky season opener.

The left-hander allowed four runs, six hits and three walks in four innings of a 5-4 win over Colorado on Wednesday, in his first start for Milwaukee since 2006. Davis, who spent the last three seasons with Arizona, posted a 1.20 ERA in winning both starts against the Cubs last season.