Starting Five: Changes for Reeling Cubs?

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Cubs are probably going to have a new closer Tuesday morning.

"I think we're going to make some changes as far as what we're going to do in late innings," manager Lou Piniella said. "We'll have some word [Tuesday]."

The reason for the change? Incumbent closer Kevin Gregg blew his sixth save of the season Monday night in San Diego, turning a 1-0 lead with two outs in the ninth inning into a 4-1 loss.

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After walking David Eckstein with one out in the ninth, Gregg got Adrian Gonzalez to fly out to left before allowing a Chase Headley double that scored Eckstein, intentionally walking Kevin Kouzmanoff and then giving up a walk-off home run to rookie Kyle Blanks.

It was Gregg's third blown save in August, a month in which he also surrendered a game-winning home run to the Phillies (on Aug. 11) in a non-save situation.

"It [stunk]," Gregg said. "I wasn't pitching. I went away from what I wanted to do and didn't execute my pitches and it cost us the game."

Chicago, now six games back of St. Louis in the NL Central and four out in the wild-card race, simply can't afford to keep losing games that way. Carlos Marmol is the most likely candidate to replace Gregg in the ninth inning, though he has struggled greatly with his control in 2009.

From the Trainer's Room ...
The Mets have been in this space so much this season, you might think they're sponsoring it. New York actually got some good injury news Monday, though. David Wright, suffering from post-concussion symptoms after taking Matt Cain pitch to the head Saturday, was optimistic that he would be back soon.

"I'm sure I'm going to play again this year," Wright said. "I've made it very clear to everybody that will listen that I want to be on a program that gets me back in the starting lineup when I'm eligible to come off the DL."

Meanwhile, reliever Billy Wagner could be activated by the end of this week. He rejoined the team Monday, with a side session on Tuesday the final hurdle between him and the Mets bullpen.

OK, so it wasn't all positive news. Alex Cora was lost for the season. He'll have surgery on torn ligaments in both of his thumbs in the coming weeks.

Numbers Game ...
Tommy Hanson continues to make a compelling case that he should be the National League Rookie of the Year. The Braves right-hander tossed six innings of two-run ball, beating the Diamondbacks to run his record to 8-2 and drop his ERA to 3.05. The key number here, though, is 146 -- his innings total for the season, already eight more than he threw all of last season. Balancing Atlanta's playoff hopes and protecting Hanson's long-term health is going to be tricky down the stretch.

In Their Own Words ...
"His message was to let it all hang out. It was a great message and a great time for that message. We're going to play to win, not play not to lose." -- Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand on a team meeting conducted by manager Bruce Bochy before San Francisco's 10-1 thrashing of the Mets. Bochy wants his team to play better on the road. The Giants are 25-34 away from AT&T Park this season.

Advance Scouting ...
Freddy Garcia embarks on his latest major league comeback attempt Tuesday night as the White Sox play host to the Royals (8:11 PM ET). Garcia has started just 14 big-league games since 2006, battling a myriad of injuries since then. The last time he was an effective and healthy major league pitcher was with Chicago. He won a World Series on the South Side and went 40-21 for the Pale Hose from 2004-06.