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MILWAUKEE -- Being trusted to pitch in the late innings is an honor for left-handed reliever James Russell, but it doesn’t mean that the new role has made him forget about his dream.

Russell maintained Friday that he would still like to be a starting pitcher one day, but won’t push the issue with the coaching staff or front office.

“I’m still not over the whole starting thing quite yet, I don’t think,” Russell said. “It’s really pretty much up to them. Whatever they want me to do is what I want to do. But just, in the back of my mind, I think I can succeed at starting and do well and help our team out starting. If they think otherwise then that’s perfectly fine with me.”

Russell has watched with pride, respect and perhaps a tiny bit of jealousy at how Jeff Samardzija has made the transition from bullpen to starting rotation. But he swears that other than perhaps standing a little taller in meetings when the rotation is mentioned, he won’t openly appeal for a chance.

“I’ll let them decide,” Russell said. “I’m not going to say anything. Just keep my mouth shut and go about my business in the bullpen and whatever they want to do in the offseason or next year, whether it’s me staying in the bullpen or trying out for a rotation job then so be it.”

He certainly doesn’t have any complaints about his current duties. He hoped to be able to pick up some of the slack in the late innings after the departure of Sean Marshall to the Cincinnati Reds and he has been worthy of that.

And now with Carlos Marmol out at closer he could even pick up some ninth-inning action, but Rafael Dolis has done the closing over the last week.

“It shows they have confidence in me,” he said. “That’s what you want. You want to be that guy that everybody wants in there and the guy they count on late in the game. It’s a big confidence booster and makes you feel good inside, too.”

Just getting the chance to start one day would also give him that good feeling inside. He would even be willing to follow the Samardzija program and arrive to Arizona three months ahead of spring training.

“If that’s what it takes then I’ll do it,” Russell said.

MILWAUKEE -- The Chicago Cubs' current two-headed closer setup isn’t always dictated by what batters are due to hit in the ninth inning.

With left-hander James Russell and right-hander Rafael Dolis to choose from when a victory is on the line, manager Dale Sveum said he might make his decision long before the moment of truth arrives.

For this weekend’s series against the Milwaukee Brewers, for instance, Sveum has already informed Dolis that he will be the closer if the opportunity arises and Russell will be used in a set-up capacity.

“It’s probably going to be Dolis just because they don’t have the [Joey] Vottos, the [Jay] Bruces, the [Brian] McCanns, guys lined up that way,” Sveum said about above-average left-handed hitters around the National League. “We’ll probably use [Russell] in more of a situational seventh or eighth inning depending on what’s going on to keep the left-hander on the bench.”

Since Carlos Marmol was removed from the closer role last Friday, Dolis has two saves and a victory in three outings. Russell has two holds over that time and has given up just one run in 4 2/3 innings (four appearances).

“I’ll let them know during batting practice,” Sveum said. “I’ll say ‘It’s not cut and dry but a pretty good chance tonight you’ll be closing the game.’ ”

CHICAGO -- After a review of Kerry Wood's actions following his outing Tuesday night, Major League Baseball has decided that no disciplinary action will be taken against the 34-year-old right-hander.

Wood first tossed his glove into the stands, then his cap while exiting the field after giving up two runs in one inning of work to the Atlanta Braves. Wood entered in a tie game, and the Braves ended up taking the lead for good.

Manager Dale Sveum had a mixed reaction to Wood’s actions, saying it was not ideal behavior but he understood where it was coming from.

“I don’t condone it or wish it to happen all the time, but we all know in this game there is frustration that happens,” Sveum said before Wednesday’s game.

Sveum also said he still intends on using Wood in late-inning situations but not on consecutive days. Wood has been on a limited schedule since spring training, when he pitched less than six innings in Cactus League play.

In two outings since coming off the disabled list because of shoulder irritation, Wood has given up a pair of runs each time.

Tossing equipment into the stands in the manner that Wood did Tuesday was believed to warrant no more than a fine, but an MLB spokesperson said there was no reason for punishment.

Bryan LaHair has done what he needs to do to be successful against outside pitches this season

The long reach of 6-foot-5 Bryan LaHair has paid off repeatedly for the Chicago Cubs this season.

One big reward was his game-winning hit against Tim Hudson and the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.

LaHair took a pitch that was on the edge of the strike zone and whipped it on the ground into the vacated hole left when Braves shortstop Jack Wilson was shifting towards second base.

Nobody has gotten greater value against pitches on the outer-third of the strike zone, or further away, than LaHair.

In the first three weeks of the season, LaHair was susceptible to that pitch. On his first 58 swings, he was only able to put 10 into play. That’s not a good rate.

The one way you could get LaHair out was to throw him a two-strike pitch away. In his first 19 games, he had 13 strikeouts and one hit on such pitches.

But LaHair has more than made up for that since.

LaHair’s last 33 swings against outside pitches have resulted in 16 balls in play and amazingly, 10 base hits. Of those, six have gone to the opposite field (four in the air, two on the ground), including the game-winner.

The two-strike turnaround has been amazing, too. In the past nine games, LaHair has six hits and one strikeout against two-strike pitches away (including a hit earlier in the game against Hudson on Wednesday).

There is a hit-or-miss aspect to this, much like there has been to LaHair’s game all season. Tuesday, the Braves were able to get LaHair out three times on outside pitches. But those games have been an exception, for the most part.

In total, LaHair has 17 hits against outside pitches this season and his batting average when an at-bat ends in an outside pitch is .439. That’s the best in the majors for anyone this season.

CHICAGO -- Make it four consecutive strong starts and counting for Cubs left-hander Paul Maholm, who has joined the team's collection of solid rotation guys.

Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza and Jeff Samardzija have also been impressive in the early going, with the starters posting a 2.52 ERA over the last 16 games.

After allowing just one run in each of his last three starts, Maholm topped that by giving up nothing over seven innings in the Cubs' 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.

"Whenever I take the ball I'm going to expect to go deep into the game and let the defense pick me up and win games," Maholm said. "Whether you're the No. 1 or the No. 5, the day you pitch is your day. You're the No. 1 guy and you have to get the job done. I think the last four games I've pitched well."

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CHICAGO -- Simply scouting an opponent and watching a little video seems downright amateur when compared to how the Cubs are doing things these days.

The club is taking defensive positioning to a science and it was instrumental in a victory Wednesday.

It might not have been a coincidence that Chipper Jones was the Atlanta Braves batter burned most by the Cubs' quirky infield alignments. The veteran has the most video available on him of any of the Braves batters and the Cubs used it against him Wednesday.

Third-base and infield coach Pat Listach has a backlog of video that can not only give him a player's last 100 ground balls, he can break it down in to where the hard-hit grounders are going as opposed to the soft ones.

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CHICAGO -- Carlos Marmol is no longer the closer, Kerry Wood has been hurt and has struggled in the setup role and Lendy Castillo is rarely used.

Dale Sveum knew that one of his toughest tasks as a first-time manager would be to maintain a bullpen with some question marks, but he never imagined this.

“Um, yeah, I guess you can probably say that,” Sveum said about bullpen management being harder than expected. “I think because we’re trying to be optimistic about everything with the team.”

There are bright bullpen spots too, though, and James Russell and Rafael Dolis are two of them. The lefty Russell pitched a scoreless eighth inning Wednesday in support of starter Paul Maholm and the righty Dolis finished it off with a scoreless ninth for a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

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Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein has a lot on his table these days, but he did have time to talk about how pleased he has been with his new manager and coaching staff.

Although the Cubs have been slow out of the gate, manager Dale Sveum and his group of coaches have been getting rave reviews from players and executives alike.

"With Dale and the coaches the amount of preparation, hard work and attention to detail is as good as it gets," Epstein said. “They deserve a lot of credit for how smoothly things have gone and hopefully results follow."

There is a feeling that the Cubs have assembled a solid braintrust to guide the team into the future. The Cubs are still under .500 at 13-18, but they've just won back-to-back series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves.

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CHICAGO -- The Cubs’ 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday gave them their second consecutive series victory and a 4-2 homestand.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Paul Maholm fired seven scoreless innings, and Bryan LaHair delivered a clutch RBI single in the seventh inning with two outs. LaHair has now reached base safely in 27 consecutive games, the first Cubs first baseman to do so since Derrek Lee reached base in 30 consecutive games during the 2009 season. James Russell delivered a scoreless eighth inning, while Rafael Dolis pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his third save.

WHAT IT MEANS: Maholm has not only turned it around after a slow start, but his victory Wednesday was his fourth consecutive, tying his career best, which was done most recently in 2008. That win streak began April 21, the day he snapped a personal seven-game winless streak that dated back to July of last season. His scoreless outing came after three consecutive starts in which he gave up just one run.

OUTSIDE THE BOX: Make that a 2.51 ERA for Cubs pitchers over the past 17 games since April 21. The pitchers entered Wednesday’s game with a 2.66 mark over that stretch, the lowest in baseball, ahead of the Rays (2.68), the Reds (2.84) and the Orioles (2.85). Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 2.52 ERA over that same stretch, with Maholm’s seven scoreless innings Wednesday.

OFF BEAT: A slow start out of the batter’s box and a hesitation at third base might have cost Starlin Castro an inside-the-park home run. Castro hit a ball down the right-field line that Jason Heyward failed to come up with after diving. Heading to third base, Castro didn’t seem to see right away that coach Pat Listach was waving him home. The relay throw from the outfield had Castro by at least 20 feet.

UP NEXT: After an off day Thursday, the Cubs will open a three-game series at Milwaukee on Friday with Matt Garza (2-1, 2.67 ERA) squaring off against the Brewers’ Randy Wolf (2-3, 6.68).

CHICAGO -- A sore knee had Alfonso Soriano on the bench for the second time in three days as Adrian Cardenas got the start Wednesday in left field.

Soriano started just once in the series against the Atlanta Braves but he did drive in a run during that game, in the sixth inning Tuesday with a double. It was the Cubs’ only run in their 3-1 defeat.

“Yeah, his knee’s been a little bit sore and stuff,” manager Dale Sveum said. “[He will] get Thursday off so he will get two days off and be ready for the three day games on the road trip [to Milwaukee]. Just give him a little time with the knee.”

It’s been an interesting season so far for Soriano, who has yet to hit a home run but has shown improvement on defense. He has just five extra-base hits (all doubles) this season and entered play Wednesday batting .253.

“He’s played great defense,” Sveum said. “Obviously he’s lost his legs a little bit, but everything he’s supposed to catch, even some of the Web gems he’s had lately, he’s done a great job. Obviously you could use more home runs, but he’s done a good job. He’s worked his butt off and done a good job in the outfield.”

Despite a low .303 slugging percentage (Bryan LaHair leads Cubs regulars with a .771 slugging mark), Soriano’s 14 RBIs were third on the team, behind LaHair (17) and Starlin Castro (19).

CHICAGO -- One day after Chicago Cubs reliever Kerry Wood tossed his glove and his cap into the crowd after a rough outing, manager Dale Sveum said it was not ideal behavior.

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CHICAGO -- For a guy who has won seven world championships as a professional wrestler and has performed in front of millions, CM Punk appeared ... well, slightly jittery in the press box on Monday night at Wrigley Field.

“To me, I don’t really get nervous as often wrestling anymore,” he said.

And as he warmed up for his big moment with organist Gary Pressy in a tiny booth high above Wrigley Field, tattooed tough-guy CM Punk melted away and was replaced by Phillip Jack Brooks (Punk’s real name), a wide-eyed kid who just stole the keys to the candy store.

“Take me out to the ball game…”

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The frustrating “Groundhog Day”-like routine continued for Chicago Cubs starter Ryan Dempster on Tuesday. Dempster has allowed a total of four earned runs in his five 2012 outings but has yet to come away with a victory.

The veteran pitcher gave up just one run in seven innings of work in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves before turning over a tie game to teammate Kerry Wood in the eighth inning. Wood walked two and gave up the go-ahead runs on Dan Uggla's two-run single. After the inning the Cubs reliever threw his glove in disgust.

“Coming off of the DL (Wood) has had a couple of rough outings, but he is as professional a teammate (as) I ever played with and you know things will turn around real soon,” Dempster said.

As usual, Wood, who came off of the disabled list on May 1, was there to answer questions after the loss but ended the media session after being asked about throwing his glove. The pitcher did not use the excuse of being rusty in his second appearance after recovering from shoulder soreness.

“Shoulder is great,” Wood said. “That’s the frustrating thing. I bounced back from the injection and the shoulder feels great and my stuff feels fine. It is all about results and I didn’t have any tonight.”

The last time Dempster won a game was in Washington on August 10, 2011. That was the day before Carlos Zambrano quit the team in Atlanta never to return. Dempster has five quality starts and a 1.02 ERA this season.

“That was another dominating performance.” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “It’s a shame. It’s almost May 10th and he doesn’t have a win with a (1.02) earned run average. I am glad we scored one so he didn’t take the loss.”

Dempster was his usual team-first self after the game.

“It’s OK. It will come,” Dempster said. “It’s just more of a bummer because we had a chance to win three in a row. We will just come back tomorrow and try and win another series.”

A quick look at the Chicago Cubs' 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

How it happened: Ryan Dempster's bad luck continued, as he left the game after seven strong innings with his fourth no-decision of the season. Dempster, who had the lowest ERA of any big league starter entering action Tuesday night, has not won a game since August 13, 2011. Dempster gave up his first earned run in three starts on Tuesday in the fourth inning. Braves right fielder Jason Heyward tripled and scored on Tyler Pasternicky's sacrifice fly. Alfonso Soriano's RBI double scored Tony Campana with the tying run in the sixth inning, sending Braves starter Randall Delgado to the showers. Soriano also made a running catch with two on in the fourth to keep the Braves from doing further damage. Kerry Wood surrendered two runs in the top of the eighth to take the loss. Wood walked two and allowed a two-run single to Dan Uggla.

What it means: The Cubs have one more attempt Wednesday to win their third straight series for the first time since last September. Coming into Tuesday’s game they had won nine of their last 15 games.

Outside the box: Team president Theo Epstein praised his manager and coaching staff before Tuesday night’s game. “I thought they had a top-notch spring training and they have been the model of consistency since opening day on,” Epstein said. “It was a pretty rough first couple of weeks and Dale handled it with a real calmness and confidence.” ... Cubs second baseman Adrian Cardenas made his first major league start. He could get more playing time due to Darwin Barney’s early season slump. ... Bryan LaHair reached base for the 26th consecutive game.

Up next: Lefty Paul Maholm (3-2, 5.13) closes out the series against Atlanta, opposing Braves righty Tim Hudson (1-0 6.55 ). Dempster will host his charity “Casino Night” on Wednesday evening at the Palmer House Hyatt.

Carlos Marmol's turnaround eighth inning in Monday night's Chicago Cubs win was something president of baseball operations Theo Epstein watched with special interest. Marmol regained his form and his aura, turning catcalls by the fans into cheers.

“The way to work through it in this (ballpark) is to take the feedback you get sometimes and turn it into a positive,” Epstein said. “Last night he said the booing motivated him because he knew he had to get it right and that is a mature approach. So you might as well turn it into a positive.”

Before Tuesday night’s game, Cubs manager Dale Sveum said that although Marmol has been demoted from the closer’s role for now, he would like to see him regain his former position. Epstein concurred.

“I think everyone has to recognize he wants to succeed as much as anyone else,” Epstein said. “No one wants to go out there and fail, especially in a role when you let your teammates down. But he is paid a lot of money to do a job and his has a lot of support around him. It’s up to him to go out and fix himself, but I have not seen any signs of him backing down.”

Marmol lost his job after imploding in a save opportunity against the Reds last week. The Cubs reliever is in the second year of a three-year, $21 million deal he signed before the 2011 season.