Cubs' Lackey: 'We need to play better'

Don't start planning the (first) parade (in more than a century) just yet.

After getting saddled with a no-decision in Monday's 4-3 loss in St. Louis, right-hander John Lackey expressed frustration over his club's recent skid, as the Chicago Cubs have won just four of their last 12 contests since opening the season with a 25-6 run, the hottest start in franchise history.

Not that he's worried, or anything.

"We need to play better, 100 percent," Lackey told ESPN's Jesse Rogers. "But worry is a strong word. I think we're doing OK."

Lackey isn't the only one who feels that way. Ben Zobrist, the versatile veteran with a career-best .962 OPS through his first two months in Chicago, is similarly exasperated with his club's recent play, though he isn't about to panic about a rough two-week stretch in May.

"It is frustrating a little bit," Zobrist said. "It's still so early. We weren't thinking too high of ourselves. We know it's a long season. We just have to get back to the grind again."

Asked for a diagnosis on his club's recent slide - it began May 11 when they were swept in a double-header against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field - Zobrist said the bats have gone cold of late. (None of the blame lies with him, though, as the 34-year-old is hitting .467/.562/.717 since May 5 and leads the National League with a .448 on-base percentage).

"We've slowed down offensively, and we're just having a harder time squaring the ball up," Zobrist said. "That's the way it goes sometimes. We have to work for it."

Still, while their pace has slowed, the Cubs still own baseball's best record by a considerable margin at 29-14, and boast a five-game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates for first in the National League Central. Besides, manager Joe Maddon said, it isn't possible to sustain an .800 winning percentage over 162 games.

"It's inevitable," Maddon said. "Things like this have to happen over the course of the baseball season."