Much-awaited series on tap

How good are the Cubs? How bad is the baseball they're playing right now?

They're about to find out quick.

In a much-anticipated series -- perhaps much more anticipated in these parts about two weeks ago -- the Arizona Diamondbacks bring the top record in the majors to Wrigley Field looking to pile on against a team they swept out of the playoffs last October.

The Cubs used the off day Thursday to line up their top pitchers for the series but are riding a 4-9 slide in which they've suffered breakdowns in all three areas of the game.

Most recently, the middle of the order has stopped hitting after a torrid opening month of the season. Despite the fact the Cubs rank second in the majors to Arizona in runs (201-195), they averaged just 3.5 runs per game on their just concluded 2-4 road trip through St. Louis and Cincinnati.

"It's not so much disappointing,'' said cleanup hitter Aramis Ramirez, who missed three of those games after being hit on the wrist by a pitch Friday night. "We haven't hit the way we like to. But St. Louis is in first place for a reason, and (Cincinnati) has some guys who can pitch.''

"We just need to regroup and pick it back up,'' said slumping Derrek Lee. "There's still a lot of games to play.''

And the next 10 are at home, making up the longest homestand of the season for the Cubs and offering at least one reason for optimism about turning things around -- considering they're 11-6 at home and hitting about 70 points better at Wrigley Field than elsewhere.

But it's going to take more than home cooking to reverse a 3-4-5 slump that saw the heart of the Cubs' order hit just .206 with six RBIs during that six-game trip -- .169 with five if you take out Geovany Soto's 3-for-3 night as a one-game fill-in at No. 5.

Whether it's the lack of hitting of late, or the fielding breakdowns that cost the Cubs at least two games in the past week or the pitching problems that cost Rich Hill a demotion to the minors, manager Lou Piniella says the name or quality of the next opponent is the least of his worries.

"It doesn't matter who you play,'' Piniella said when asked about the D-backs coming to town. "If you play good baseball you beat the good teams as well as the teams that are not as good. And if you don't play good baseball, you're going to lose to anybody."