The Cubs began their final homestand of 2006 with an infield that looked vastly different from the one manager Dusty Baker penciled in for the season's first homestand.

Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Michael Barrett and Neifi Perez were all starting for the Cubs back in April but were absent from Tuesday's lineup. Those four players accounted for 47 percent of the team's RBIs in 2005.

In their places were John Mabry, Scott Moore, Henry Blanco and Ryan Theriot.

Those certainly weren't the names the crowd of 31,932 probably expected to be a part of a 14-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, but those were several of the names that got it done for the Cubs.

Blanco, who has been filling in at catcher for sometime, tied career highs with four hits and four RBIs in the game.

Baker said he's seen improvement at the plate from Blanco this season.

"One of the main reasons he didn't play starter before is because he had trouble hitting," Baker said. "But it looks like he's getting better, learning, getting more confident, and that's what you like to see as a coach, a player get better."

Blanco is hitting .272 this year after hitting .219 in his previous eight big-league seasons.

"Getting a chance to play made a little difference, but that's not my job," Blanco said. "I know what my job is and I'm just enjoying the time right now, and hopefully we'll win a couple of more games."

Mabry, another role player for the Cubs, hit a three-run homer during a five-run sixth inning. It was only the fifth homer of a disappointing season for Mabry, who is hitting .207 this year.

"He's had a tough year," Baker said. "We all know he's better than that. He's had some physical problems, and you'd like to see him play well and end strong."

The Cubs scored 12 of their runs with two outs, including Jose Reyes' two-run single in the eighth inning, which marked his first Major League hit and RBIs. Only Jacque Jones' two-run homer off Carlos Villanueva (1-2) in the bottom of the third did not come with two away. It was Jones' 27th homer of the year, tying a career high.

"When you get those two-out RBI hits," Baker said, "that's sort of a backbreaker because that's where the pitcher tries to get you -- a situation where you have to get a clean hit like that. We got a number of them tonight."

 

"You always want to leave with a great taste in your mouth, and we have four games left and we'd like to win all of them."

-- Dusty Baker

The run support helped rookie starter Sean Marshall end his first big-league season on a positive note.

Marshall (6-9) gave up three runs on six hits and three walks in six innings of work to pick up his first Major League win since July 5. Marshall went on the disabled list from July 23-Sept. 1 with a strained right oblique.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've notched one in the win column," Marshall said. "It feels nice to win the final start of the year, and hopefully I can carry, and our team can carry, what we did today into next year."

Marshall said he's learned that cutting down on his mistakes is the key to Major League success.

"I learned the first week you have to minimize your mistakes up here and pitch with all your confidence and execute all your pitches for the whole season, not just for a month at a time," Marshall said.

While executing over an entire season is certainly a lesson the Cubs can learn as a team, Baker said his players are focused on finishing on a positive note.

"You always want to leave with a great taste in your mouth, and we have four games left and we'd like to win all of them," Baker said.

If the Cubs did that, they'd end on a five-game winning streak. That would be their longest win streak in a very trying season.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.