Going for .500

Yesterday’s comeback was a good start for the team, particularly the lineup against a good pitcher in Houston’s Roy Oswalt. Today, Henry Blanco makes his first appearance, giving Geovany Soto a rest.

Soriano, LF

Johnson, CF

Lee, 1B

Ramirez, 3B

Fukudome, RF

DeRosa, 2B

Theriot, SS

Blanco, C

Zambrano, RHP

Kid K

Kerry Wood saved his second game of the season with yesterday’s 1-2-3 inning. His slider kept hitters off balance, and his fastball was moving very well.

In his 36 career appearances as a reliever, Kerry has a 3.43 ERA and has held opponents to a .181 batting average.

Evolving lineup

Lou explained this morning his rationale for moving the catcher to the eight hole in the lineup: He wants to have some speed in front of the catcher so that he can try to get runners in scoring position for his backstops.

Lou thinks carefully about his lineups, and as he said, if something’s not working, he’s going to change things around a little bit.

“Z” for Zero

Carlos Zambrano holds a 19.2 scoreless-innings streak. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last three starts, dating back to Sept. 28 in Cincinnati (6.0 IP).

He’s the first Cubs pitcher to go three starts without yielding a run since Ken Holtzman accomplished the feat in both 1968 and ’69.