Mike Quade prefers to think of all the good things the Cubs  showed him in their first homestand rather then dwell on their record.

Chicago made three errors Wednesday in a 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks that dropped the team to 3-3 in a season that began with series’ against a pair of last-place ballclubs.

The Cubs lost two of three to the Pirates, last in the NL Central last season, then took two of three from Arizona, the West’s worst last year.

“There is so much good to take out of this even though you lost,” Quade, in his first full season as Cubs manager. “You hope to build on through the season.

“There was a lot of good to take out of what I saw on this homestand,” he said. “I would have liked to have taken all that good stuff and been 5-1 or 4-2, but that’s OK.”

Quade’s day began with the news that Cubs starters Randy Wells (right forearm strain) and Andrew Cashner (strain in right rotator cuff) were headed to the 15-day disabled list.

“Everybody understands that we’re going to need contributions from all over the place,” Quade said. “I don’t think anybody is going to try to do too much.”

Alfonso Soriano hit his third homer of the season but made an error in the field, and Aramis Ramirez hit his second for Chicago.

“We’ve talked about the speed (Soriano) no longer possesses and how his power numbers are going to be so important for us,” said Quade. “Boy, three home runs in a homestand is pretty good. That’s a nice pace.”

Chris Young drove in two runs, scored twice and made a pair of nice catches in center field as Arizona ended its eight-game losing streak against the Cubs.

“(Young) had a great game, offensively and defensively,” Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. “He made three great plays, hustled on the bases. I moved him up and it was big for us. He had a great game.”

Armando Galarraga (1-0) won in his first career NL start, giving up five hits and four runs in 7 1-3 innings. J.J. Putz pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

“He pitched good,” said Gibson. “Gave us seven-plus. He wanted to stay in there, but he’d done his job. Over 90 pitches, first start out. Our bullpen, good support for them to gain confidence as well.”

Gerardo Parra had three hits and scored a run and Miguel Montero hit his second homer of the season for the Diamondbacks.

Ryan Dempster (0-2) gave up five runs — four earned — and 10 hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter.

“I made a lot of good pitches today,” Dempster said. “Sometimes, if you just make a little better pitches here and there it would have helped to get ahead in the count. For the most part, I like the way I was throwing the ball.”

After the Cubs tied it in the fourth, Arizona scored three times in the fifth.

Young lifted a flyball into the left-field corner, which Soriano tracked to the wall. But the ball glanced off his glove as he reached the yet-to-bloom ivy. The play was scored a double. Young went to third when a relay throw got away from Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, who was charged with an error on the play, and scored on Kelly Johnson’s double.

In the third Soriano was charged with an error backing up a play.

Young hit a sinking drive to center. Cubs center fielder Marlon Byrd, in an effort to save a run, raced in and reached for a shoestring catch. He came up short and the ball rolled well behind him.

“An inch here and there, I catch that ball and it’s 0-0 instead of 2-0,” said Byrd. “I’m always going to be aggressive. Hopefully, I’m going to get that ball the next time.”

Soriano bobbled the ball while backing up Byrd. That allowed Young to score. The play was scored a triple. An error was charged to Soriano.

“Sori was busting, trying to get that ball,” said Quade. “He was trying to be too quick getting the ball into the infield. (You have to realize) it’s a triple, so secure the ball and get the ball into the infielders.”

Soriano agreed, but added that he needs to be able to make the difficult plays.

“The second one, I got very close and the ball hit my glove,” said Soriano. “I think I can get better. They were two tough plays, but I’m going to keep working and make those plays.” Now the Cubs head to Milwaukee to begin their first road trip of the season.

“We played well,” Byrd said. “There are no negatives. Now it’s time to go on the road and see what we’re made of.”

NOTES: Relegated to pinch-hitting duties is Chicago first baseman Carlos Pena, who has a right thumb strain. Quade said Pena is “feeling better” and is getting close to returning ot full-time duty. … Former Chicago Bulls player and current television analyst Stacey King threw out Wednesday’s ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field and sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch. The lefty shooter threw out the first pitch right-handed. … After a couple of rare days under 30,000, the Cubs announced an attendance of 32,272 for Wednesday’s game.

Mike Quade prefers to think of all the good things the Cubs showed him in their first homestand rather then dwell on their record.

Chicago made three errors Wednesday in a 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks that dropped the team to 3-3 in a season that began with series’ against a pair of last-place ballclubs.

The Cubs lost two of three to the Pirates, last in the NL Central last season, then took two of three from Arizona, the West’s worst last year.

“There is so much good to take out of this even though you lost,” Quade, in his first full season as Cubs manager. “You hope to build on through the season.

“There was a lot of good to take out of what I saw on this homestand,” he said. “I would have liked to have taken all that good stuff and been 5-1 or 4-2, but that’s OK.”

Quade’s day began with the news that Cubs starters Randy Wells (right forearm strain) and Andrew Cashner (strain in right rotator cuff) were headed to the 15-day disabled list.

“Everybody understands that we’re going to need contributions from all over the place,” Quade said. “I don’t think anybody is going to try to do too much.”

Alfonso Soriano hit his third homer of the season but made an error in the field, and Aramis Ramirez hit his second for Chicago.

“We’ve talked about the speed (Soriano) no longer possesses and how his power numbers are going to be so important for us,” said Quade. “Boy, three home runs in a homestand is pretty good. That’s a nice pace.”

Chris Young drove in two runs, scored twice and made a pair of nice catches in center field as Arizona ended its eight-game losing streak against the Cubs.

“(Young) had a great game, offensively and defensively,” Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. “He made three great plays, hustled on the bases. I moved him up and it was big for us. He had a great game.”

Armando Galarraga (1-0) won in his first career NL start, giving up five hits and four runs in 7 1-3 innings. J.J. Putz pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

“He pitched good,” said Gibson. “Gave us seven-plus. He wanted to stay in there, but he’d done his job. Over 90 pitches, first start out. Our bullpen, good support for them to gain confidence as well.”

Gerardo Parra had three hits and scored a run and Miguel Montero hit his second homer of the season for the Diamondbacks.

Ryan Dempster (0-2) gave up five runs _ four earned _ and 10 hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter.

“I made a lot of good pitches today,” Dempster said. “Sometimes, if you just make a little better pitches here and there it would have helped to get ahead in the count. For the most part, I like the way I was throwing the ball.”

After the Cubs tied it in the fourth, Arizona scored three times in the fifth.

Young lifted a flyball into the left-field corner, which Soriano tracked to the wall. But the ball glanced off his glove as he reached the yet-to-bloom ivy. The play was scored a double. Young went to third when a relay throw got away from Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, who was charged with an error on the play, and scored on Kelly Johnson’s double.

In the third Soriano was charged with an error backing up a play.

Young hit a sinking drive to center. Cubs center fielder Marlon Byrd, in an effort to save a run, raced in and reached for a shoestring catch. He came up short and the ball rolled well behind him.

“An inch here and there, I catch that ball and it’s 0-0 instead of 2-0,” said Byrd. “I’m always going to be aggressive. Hopefully, I’m going to get that ball the next time.”

Soriano bobbled the ball while backing up Byrd. That allowed Young to score. The play was scored a triple. An error was charged to Soriano.

“Sori was busting, trying to get that ball,” said Quade. “He was trying to be too quick getting the ball into the infield. (You have to realize) it’s a triple, so secure the ball and get the ball into the infielders.”

Soriano agreed, but added that he needs to be able to make the difficult plays.

“The second one, I got very close and the ball hit my glove,” said Soriano. “I think I can get better. They were two tough plays, but I’m going to keep working and make those plays.” Now the Cubs head to Milwaukee to begin their first road trip of the season.

“We played well,” Byrd said. “There are no negatives. Now it’s time to go on the road and see what we’re made of.”

NOTES: Relegated to pinch-hitting duties is Chicago first baseman Carlos Pena, who has a right thumb strain. Quade said Pena is “feeling better” and is getting close to returning ot full-time duty. … Former Chicago Bulls player and current television analyst Stacey King threw out Wednesday’s ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field and sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch. The lefty shooter threw out the first pitch right-handed. … After a couple of rare days under 30,000, the Cubs announced an attendance of 32,272 for Wednesday’s game.

MESA, Ariz. — The Chicago Cubs had a players-only meeting on Thursday to go along with the team meeting that manager Mike Quade called after Wednesday’s dugout tussle between third baseman Aramis Ramirez and pitcher Carlos Silva.

Quade found out about the meeting Friday morning and had no problems with it.

“I think it’s not a good thing if it becomes a public meeting,” Quade said. “But those guys will do what they have to do. I have enough to do to keep my eye on the club and keep it in the right direction. Veterans aren’t just veterans because they’ve been around for a while. They are smart enough to figure things out as well.”

Veteran pitcher Kerry Wood said conflicts between teammates are realatively common.

“It happens every year,” Wood said. “I’ve been involved in [fights] before myself. You guys didn’t know about it. But it happens. You never like to see it happen where everyone sees it. But we are all grown men. We leave here in four weeks and we want to work together for 162 games. It better bring us closer.”

“

The only thing I said was, ‘We need to start making plays here.’ He took it personally. I knew it was my mistake. It was my fault. You shouldn’t say anything. But he took it personally. We argued in the dugout.

” – Carlos Silva

Meanwhile on Friday, Silva took the blame for Wednesday’s dugout confrontation with Ramirez and admitted he’s feeling some frustration in trying to land a spot in the starting rotation.

The altercation took place after a first inning that featured three Cubs errors — one by Ramirez — and two home runs by the Milwaukee Brewers.

“That was a very hard inning,” Silva said Friday, addressing the incident for the first time after refusing previous requests. “I gave up those two homers, I came to the dugout and tried to take it easy. I tried to relax and let it go. The only thing I said was, ‘We need to start making plays here.’

“He took it personally. I knew it was my mistake. It was my fault. You shouldn’t say anything. But he took it personally. We argued in the dugout.”

Silva has stated that based on an 8-0 start last season, he proved he belongs in the rotation. But Cubs manager Mike Quade named Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano and Matt Garza as his starters, leaving the fourth and fifth spots open.

“For me it was a little bit harder [than it was for Ramirez] … because it was like … ‘Who’s going to be the fifth starter?’” Silva said. “We don’t know yet. I’m working for that. I don’t take anything for granted. It was hard.”

Quade said there wouldn’t be any fines or discipline resulting from the incident. In fact, he said he’s glad someone was upset about the Cubs’ sloppy play thus far in the spring.

Ramirez said the incident is in the past. Silva and Ramirez have yet to speak since the incident. Ramirez wanted to talk Wednesday, but Silva wanted to put it off until emotions cooled off.

“Right now I’ll do what I have to do,” Silva said. “It’s like Quade said, if I have to prove it and show them, I’ll do what I have to do.

“But no excuses, in that first start I was absolutely brutal. When I went home I told my wife that wasn’t me. That’s why I say it’s all my fault. I don’t like to have any problems with any of my teammates. I think it’s the worst thing that can happen to you. You spend more time with these guys than you do with your family. That’s the last thing I want.”

Bruce Levine covers baseball for ESPNChicago.com.

Chicago – WGN-AM named Ron Santo’s replacement Wednesday, choosing former Chicago Cubs outfielder Keith Moreland to be the new broadcaster for Cubs games, according to the Chicago Tribune .

Moreland had been a fill-in for Santo in the past. Most recently, Moreland was the announcer for his college alma mater baseball team, the University of Texas Longhorns.

Moreland played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, including tplaying first base, third base, outfield and catcher for the Cubs from 1982 to 1987.

Santo died in December at the age of 70 from complications of bladder cancer. He was a legendary Cubs player and known for his colorful broadcasts.

Moreland will join play-by-play man Pat Hughes in the booth. His first game with Hughes will be the Cubs first spring training game Feb. 27.
 

CHICAGO (CNN) – Cubs fans have a new way to show their team spirit while driving around the Windy City.

A Chicago Cubs license plate was unveiled Wednesday at Wrigley Field.

A Cubs plate goes for $69. The price varies for personalized plates.

Part of the plate fee goes toward a fund benefiting schools in the state.

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