Bradley Gets Extra Coaching

A couple of Cubs hitters are getting some extra coaching.

Manager Lou Piniella has taken a personal interest in right fielder Milton Bradley, a switch hitter who has struggled all year from the left side of the plate.

Piniella has looked at film of Bradley, and Monday in Philadelphia, he worked with him before the game. Bradley did not play -- he sat for the second straight day and likely will do so again Tuesday.

The biggest thing for Bradley is to "relax," according to Piniella. Bradley is batting .201 (32-for-159) as a left-handed batter. He's batting .333 (21-for-63) right-handed. The Cubs signed Bradley to a three-year, $30-million contract in the off-season. Their reasoning at the time was that they needed to get "more left-handed" at the plate.

Piniella said he made some mechanical adjustments with Bradley, but "nothing drastic."

Centerfielder Kosuke Fukudome, meanwhile, welcomed his hitting coach from Japan to Philadelphia. Kyosuke Sasaki has joined the Cubs for about 10 days to augment the work of the Cubs' coaches with Fukudome, who is 7-for-16 on the current road trip.

PHILLIES 10, CUBS 1: LHP Ted Lilly had his worst outing of the season. He lasted just four innings, giving up eight hits and nine runs, seven earned. Lilly gave up a three-run homer to Raul Ibanez in the first and a two-run shot to Carlos Ruiz in the second.

NOTES

--RHP Rich Harden will pitch Tuesday, then not again until Monday night at home against the Astros. Harden is 5-1 with a 2.41 ERA at night. At home, he's 2-5 with a 7.59 ERA, but Monday's game is a night game. Piniella said he will try to slate Harden for night duty as much as possible.

--RHP Jeff Stevens had another perfect outing in the loss. Stevens worked two innings, giving up nothing and striking out one. Stevens, one of three pitching prospects obtained from Cleveland last off-season for IF/OF Mark DeRosa, has pitched in three games since his July 10 call-up and has given up no hits and a walk in four innings.

--C Koyie Hill threw out one runner attempting to steal Monday and is now 8-for-19, or 42.1 percent. Hill has been filling in for the injured Geovany Soto, who is out with a strained left oblique muscle. Cubs catchers entered Monday 23-for-72 in throwing out base stealers. The 31.9-percent success rate was tops in the NL and fourth in the majors.

--1B Derrek Lee's hitting streak ended at seven games. He went 0-for-3, leaving four runners on base. Lee was 9-for-27 (.333) during the streak.

--RHP Ryan Dempster threw 60 pitches on the bullpen mound Monday and reported no problems. Dempster has been on the disabled list since July 7 with a broken right big toe. He could be back by the end of the month.

--The Sports XChange