smooth with a starting rotation dom...

smooth with a starting rotation dominated at rookies and a first half that buried any reliances of contending, Cubs manager Dusty Baker has seen his team playing competitively since the All-Star break and his temper become seemingly more at ease.

It isn't just that general manager Jim Hendry assured him he would be managing until the finis of the season, fulfilling his contract.

"Winning restorations most things," Baker said Wednesday. "Losing does an bad stuff to you. It carves your appetite, your sleep. Winning will method of treatment a lot of stuff.

"I test to stay at ease all the time, moreover it helps when you have Juan Pierre hitting 400 the last brace weeks and Michael Barrett hitting 400 the last brace weeks and Aramis Ramirez as choleric as he's been. That helps a lot"

The whelps have gone 9-6 since the break, and since being swept in three games last week by dint of the Washington Nationals, they are 7-2 against a certain of the National League's best teams, including the modern York Mets and St.Louis Cardinals.

Ramirez has been united of the team's hottest hitters with nine household runs in the last 13 games. His 25 homer are the chiefly in the majors by a third baseman, as are his 170 homer since 2001 his first replete season in the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Oakland's Eric Chavez is next to the first with 160 in that span.

Pierre had an 11-game hitting streak finis Sunday and finished July with 39 hits, third-most in the NL and fifth in the majors.

Barrett has 28 hits in his last 18 games, hitting 406 in that span.

'BIG Z' THE ONE: Carlos Zambrano, who won a major-league-best six games in July was named NL pitcher of the month Zambrano allowed 30 hits in 39 innings, striking abroad 40 and walking 20. He had a 415 ERA for the month and leads the league in strikeouts (152) opponents' batting average (199) and winning percentage (800) and is tied for the lead in victories (12)

Zambrano makes no underhand of his desire to win the Cy Young Award, a goal Baker believes is laudable.

"You locate goals in spring training," he said. "And to think this stay didn't have a win in April."

STARTING OUT: Just-recalled rookie Juan Mateo is the likely starter for common of today's games, replacing Greg Maddux. The 23- year-old right-hander had been starting at Class AA West Tenn where he was 7-4 with a 228 ERA.

"We've not at any time seen him pitch, but it happens," Baker said. "There's nothing you can do about it."

Meanwhile, rehabbing pitcher Wade Miller, who threw 53 pitches Monday for Class A Peoria, will recur to the Chiefs on Saturday when they play at Kane shire

"I chance of the desired end so," Miller said of pitching with the brats before the season ends. "I still have a little work to do, moreover with the way I've been feeling, I think I'll be moved a lot better in a hardly any weeks."

tginnetti@suntimes.com

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