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CHICAGO -- Here's a quick look at the Chicago Cubs' 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres on Thursday:

How it happened: The Cubs let a 2-0 lead slip away in the eighth inning after Julio Borbon called off Darwin Barney on a pop fly with two outs as the ball dropped safely. The Padres scored a run on that play and three more that inning after the tying run tallied on a passed ball. Everth Cabrera and Chase Headley had run-scoring singles as well. Shawn Camp and James Russell faltered in relief of Travis Wood, who was very good. The Cubs scored their runs on a two-run home run by Scott Hairston in the seventh, but that's all they managed.

What it means: The Cubs reverted to early-season form by making a mistake in the field and letting it hurt afterward. In this case, it's the pitching that's more to blame, as an extremely windy day was bound to cause havoc and the Cubs did make some very good defensive plays before Borbon and Barney's miscommunication. Bullpen struggles aren't new to this team but things had been going well of late. Wood deserved a better fate after retiring the first 14 batters of the game, but he's charged with the loss. ... As has been the case most of the year, the Cubs scored with the long ball but did little else, missing some early opportunities with runners on. They were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position while the Padres were 3-for-7.

What's next: The Cubs open a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds at 1:20 p.m. CT Friday with Carlos Villanueva opposing Mike Leake.

This week's mailman is Chicago Cubs reliever James Russell. He delivers the answers to your questions:

Q: Hey James, I was wondering what role within the Cubs bullpen you prefer? You have been a great set-up man for the last few years, but I believe that you would be a great fit for the ninth inning. Is that something that you are interested in one day or are you happy with being the lefty specialist and set up man? --
Jack (Chicago)
JR: Honestly, ultimately I'd like to start. I have fun setting up but one of the biggest adrenaline rushes is closing a big-league ball game. So either one. I like being on the mound pitching.

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CHICAGO -- A slow start did not appear to impact the confidence of Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

Despite a .224 batting average, Rizzo began the month of May among the lead leaders in home runs (8) and RBIs (20). Rizzo, working with manager Dale Sveum and the Cubs' two hitting coaches, went back to the basics to rediscover his hitting mojo.

"The important thing for me is staying even keeled," Rizzo said. "Staying confident, taking things in stride whether you get three hits, four hits or strike out four times, you take it in stride and know it is a part of the game."

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CHICAGO -- For the second consecutive game, Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro is batting fifth against the San Diego Padres in their series finale at Wrigley Field on Thursday.

For almost all of the first 27 games this season Castro has batted second for manager Dale Sveum until Wednesday. Sveum said he needed to be "creative" the last couple of days with his lineup and wants to take advantage of Cody Ransom's hot bat against left-handing pitching, so Ransom is batting second against southpaw Eric Stults while Castro is batting fifth. For now it's just a short-term thing for the Cubs shortstop.

"In our normal lineup he's going to hit second," Sveum said.

But the bigger question is where does Castro fit in the lineup long term?

"On our team right now he's a 2-hole hitter," Sveum said. "He's a hand/eye coordination guy that's going to put the ball in play that doesn't walk much so he's maybe more apt to hit in the bottom of the order because he will hit into some double plays and things like that, but with the team we have right now, he's our second hitter."

That makes it sound like when the Cubs have some better hitters in the lineup Castro will indeed move down. But in the same press gathering Sveum seemed to contradict himself.

"I see him as a 2-hole hitter on prolific offensive teams," he said. "When everything is set correctly he's a 2-hole hitter."

Maybe the bottom line is it's yet to be determined where he should hit and maybe it also depends on what you expect out of your No. 2 hitter. ESPN.com's Keith Law makes the case that a team's best hitter should be batting second which might mean that's Castro's place. But that's a more modern way of thinking. Plus, is Castro the Cubs' best hitter? Can a team's best hitter get on base just 30 percent of the time and have three walks in 27 games as Castro has?

According to ESPN Stats and Information, Castro ranks 29th out of 32 teams in walk percentage for No. 2 hitters in baseball. He also swings outside the strike zone 34 percent of the time which is third-most among No. 2 hitters. Overall, he swings at pitches 51 percent of the time and that ranks fourth.

He's a free swinger. We knew that without the stats. That screams of batting in a spot where more runners can be on base.

"You hit more with men in scoring position," Castro said of hitting fifth. "Position for more RBI out there."

But it's not just to get more RBIs, it's to see better pitches. To take full advantage of Castro's style allowing him to potentially hit with runners on base more often seems like the way to go. Hitting with runners on base inherently means seeing better pitches as a pitcher simply can't nibble as much. Castro swings at those "nibbling" pitches.

So if you do believe in the more traditional sense of a No. 2 hitter then Castro doesn't belong anywhere near there. And if you buy into the best hitter on the team should be hitting No. 2 then Castro simply needs to become the best hitter. Maybe on this Cubs team he is, but if he doesn't take more walks then he won't be.

Sveum says with his temporary switch of Castro to the 5-hole he's not "assessing" anything long-term. Maybe he should.

CHICAGO -- It took 106 major league starts for Scott Feldman to throw his first complete game.

The Chicago Cubs' veteran pitcher not only pitched the entire game, he set a career high with 12 strikeouts in a 6-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.

Feldman, 30, got an assist from manager Dale Sveum after completing the eighth inning.

"Originally, the plan was for me to go eight," Feldman said. "I went back and asked if I could get a crack at a CG [complete game]. I am just glad he didn't take me out after I gave up that home run to [Chase] Headley."

Feldman, who started the season slowly, was in command from the beginning and mostly dominant against San Diego. At one point, he retired 18 straight batters and struck out the side in both the third and fourth innings. Sveum said he felt Feldman's cut fastball was the difference in the pitcher's performance.

"From what I am seeing, there is more arm speed and more velocity on the cutter," Sveum said. "That will always make things a little more crisp. When you add a couple more [miles per hour] things change a little bit. Location and not walking guys is always the formula for pitching [well]. He had a game plan to pitch those lefties in with the cutter and did it all night long."

Feldman retired 11 out of 12 Padres hitters when using the cutter as his final pitch of an at-bat.

After consulting with pitching coach Chris Bosio, Sveum told Feldman to go back out and attempt the complete game.

"He more or less said that he had never pitched a complete game before," Sveum said. "At 100 pitches, I was letting him go hitter to hitter."

Feldman, who threw 114 pitches Wednesday, has given up two or fewer earned runs in each of his past four starts.

The Cubs, using a lineup of seven batters who could bat left-handed, helped build an early five-run cushion for Feldman by chasing former Cubs pitcher Andrew Cashner after four innings. Feldman helped knock his opponent out of the game with an RBI double in the second inning. Feldman had only one double and one RBI in his career having played in the American League throughout his career before signing with the Cubs in November. He hit the ball hard three times.

"I pretty much closed my eyes and swung," Feldman said. "That was pretty much my motto. Luckily, tonight I put a couple good swings on. I still wish I had a couple more hits."

CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said on Wednesday that renovation plans for a new expanded clubhouse in Wrigley Field may be delayed until 2015.

Epstein had hoped to get a new dwelling for his team that would include a batting cage and expanded weight and cardio area.

Epstein tied in ownership getting the go-ahead from city commissions to renovate the entire ballpark as a tome line to helping his club have the facilities he believes it needs to compete for the top players in the game.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum has moved third baseman Luis Valbuena up in the order as he will bat third against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday while left fielder Alfonso Soriano is being given the day off.

"When Sori isn't in the lineup you have to have some creativity," Sveum said before the game. "Valbuena is swinging great so he's a logical choice to get into that spot. You have to be creative when you get your normal lineup out of there."

Valbuena hit his fifth home run of the season on Tuesday, surpassing his total from all of last season. The lineup also features Starlin Castro batting fifth for the first time this season.

Here's the entire lineup that will face former Cub Andrew Cashner:

1. David DeJesus, CF
2. Julio Borbon, LF
3. Valbuena, 3B
4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5. Castro, SS
6. Nate Schierholtz, RF
7. Dioner Navarro, C
8. Darwin Barney, 2B
9. Scott Feldman, P

PEARL, Miss. -- Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Garza pitched 2 2-3 innings in his first rehabilitation start, giving up one run, one hit and two walks for Double-A Tennessee against Mississippi.

The 29-year-old right-hander threw 42 pitches, three short of his limit, on a soggy afternoon after a 1½-hour rain delay.

Garza cruised through the first inning, needing just seven pitches to get three outs. In the second, he walked the first two batters before giving up a run-scoring single to Braeden Schlehuber.

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CHICAGO -- April was arguably as strange a month as the Chicago Cubs will have. Their first 25 games were decided by four runs or less, making it the second-longest such streak to start a season in baseball history. They almost made it a full month of close games if not for Edwin Jackson's performance in a 13-7 loss on Tuesday night. He had the rare bad start in a month of good ones by Cubs hurlers.

The outcome on Tuesday was much more predictable than the first 25 where games were won and lost in the strangest of fashions. Errors, home runs, bullpen meltdowns and wild pitches were the norm. And a look inside the numbers truly tells how weird the first month of the season was for the 10-16 Cubs.

They hit 35 home runs in the first month, or 26 more than they did last April. Combined with lowering their ERA from 4.21 to 3.78 those numbers should equate to more than just a slight increase in their winning percentage from .348 to .385. But it didn't. Why not?

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs starter Edwin Jackson is supposed to be a mainstay.

He was the first major free-agent signing in the Theo Epstein era, someone who wasn’t just brought in as a stop-gap. He’s here for the long haul, supposedly to help lead the Cubs into a winning era, if not this year then very soon.

“It’s been a pretty disappointing month from my standpoint -- to myself, to the teammates, to the organization and to the fans, but it’s a test of character,” Jackson said after getting pounded for eight runs in a 13-7 loss to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. “It’s one of those times where you can crumble and fold or fight and bounce back. And I definitely have not been one to be known to fold.”

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Randy Wells has retired after going winless in five starts this season for the Texas Rangers' Triple-A team.

The Rangers said Tuesday that Wells' retirement was effectively immediately.

In 98 career games in the majors from 2008-12, all but one with the Cubs, Wells was 28-32 with a 4.08 ERA. He was 1-2 in 12 games last season for Chicago, but became a free agent after refusing a minor league assignment.

The 30-year-old Wells went to spring training with the Rangers as a non-roster invitee. The right-hander was 0-4 with a 6.08 ERA for Round Rock.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels says Wells indicated he "just didn't have the same level of desire" to pitch any more.

ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine takes your Cubs and White Sox questions during a live chat at noon CT Tuesday. Click here to submit your questions.

Chicago Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija picked up a no-decision in his team’s 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night after throwing 101 pitches in five innings of work.

Being the consummate professional, he refused to let a cut on his pitching hand from his previous start prevent him from pitching. That said, his high pitch counts that have contributed to early exits lately are troubling to the pitcher.

“You have to take it start by start,” he said. “The circumstances I was under after my last start, I didn’t throw that much in between outings and it caused me to be a little off. I am not going to use that as an excuse. It is my day to pitch and I need to go out and do what I am supposed to do.”

Making it past six innings in only one of his last five outings is not what is expected of a No. 1 starter. But what is even more maddening for the pitcher is the fact he has been dominant in many of his appearances.

Samardzija struck out 47 batters in April, which is second on the Cubs’ all-time list to teammate Matt Garza’s 51 in 2011. Samardzija has only one win in a month where he at times had been unhittable.

“We are just dealing with that pitch count and we can’t seem to get by that one inning,” manager Dale Sveum said. “We just got to the point where we were one pitch away from him going out and getting maybe two more innings. He just unraveled with the walks. Walks are always going to kill your starts.”

Cut finger aside, Samardzija has walked seven men in 11 innings over his last two starts. Getting back to using the fastball is something the young starter is hoping to establish in his next outing.

“You can’t go out there with the fastball I have and thumb your way through seven innings,” he said. “I was working with what I had today. I had a good fastball today, although the location wasn’t great. Sometimes when you don’t have everything (all pitches ) it turns out to be a positive.”

Here’s a quick look at the Chicago Cubs' 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Monday at Wrigley Field.

How it happened: Bottom of the order guys Cody Ransom and Darwin Barney had back-to-back two-out hits in the sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie after both contributed with RBIs earlier in the game. Ransom hit his second home run of the season in the second inning; it was preceded by a Scott Hairston blast for back-to-back jacks. Barney doubled home a run with two outs in the fourth before doing the same in the sixth. Both Barney and Ransom flashed their gloves at third and second with key defensive plays in the seventh to keep the Padres off the board. Jeff Samardzija lasted only five innings, giving up all three Padres runs while throwing 101 pitches. He walked four and struck out eight. Kevin Gregg earned his fourth save for the Cubs.

What it means: Samardzija’s pitch counts continue to be an issue. He’s thrown 619 pitches in six starts, that’s fifth most in the league. It prevented him from going deep into this game. He hung around without his best stuff but, staked to a 3-1 lead, he could have been better in the fateful fifth. He nibbled too much, walking two that inning and four overall in his outing. ... Good news for the bottom of the order as hitters 6-8 had five hits and all five runs batted in. That will take the pressure off the main guys if it can continue. Barney has been solid on defense while his at-bats have been getting better and better. Gregg is the new closer. He’s come out of nowhere to nail down the job, going 1.1 innings for the save. He struck out two in the ninth for his third 1-2-3 save.

Outside the box: All 25 games the Cubs have played this season have been decided by four runs or less. That’s the second longest streak in baseball history to start a season behind the Detroit Tigers' 33 in a row in 1914. ... The Cubs won for the first time this season when their starting pitcher did not throw a quality start.

What’s next: The 10-15 Cubs take on the Padres in Game 2 of the series on Tuesday night when Edwin Jackson (0-3, 4.76 ERA) faces Edinson Volquez (1-3, 6.39) in a 7:10 CT start.

CHICAGO -- San Diego Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner will always have some Cubby blue in his blood as he pursues the excellence projected for him as Chicago’s first-round pick in 2008.

Traded for Anthony Rizzo in 2011, Cashner will start against his former team on Wednesday. Cashner had been a bullpen pitcher until recently being converted back to a rotation pitcher.

“This is a very special place,” Cashner said of Wrigley Field. “Babe Ruth sat in that same locker room I just left. You can’t deny the history of this place and the Cubs. I made my debut here so it will always be special in that aspect.”

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