"Looking for a way to find production for two left-handed spots in the order and focusing on right and center field, Cubs manager Lou Piniella settled for now on giving struggling right fielder Kosuke Fukudome three days out of the starting lineup.

Fukudome, who's getting his longest break of the season, hit .193 in August and is 4 for his last 21. About a week ago, Piniella and hitting coach Gerald Perry had him shorten his stride, which he has done with short-lived results.

Beyond that, it's hard to tinker much more with the hitting mechanics of a 31-year-old, nine-year veteran of the Japanese major leagues -- especially in the final four weeks of the season.

''We feel by giving him a little time off, he might start hitting again the way he wants to hit and the way we expect him to,'' said Piniella, who did not start Fukudome on Tuesday and said he plans to sit him again today against left-hander Randy Wolf before Thursday's scheduled day off.

Fukudome replaced Jim Edmonds in center field in the eighth inning. He walked in the eighth and singled in the 10th.

If that doesn't help, other options include moving Fukudome to center -- where Edmonds also had struggled of late before hitting a home run Tuesday night -- and giving Mark DeRosa more time in right. That frees up second base for lefty-hitting Mike Fontenot, who batted second Tuesday.

Sitting both Edmonds and Fukudome means having only one lefty in the lineup in Fontenot, unless DeRosa or first baseman Derrek Lee sits in favor of Daryle Ward -- a puzzle that doesn't fit well whichever way it's put together.

Then there's Micah Hoffpauir, the lefty-hitting first baseman/ corner outfielder who spent the last two months at Class AAA Iowa, where he was the hottest hitter in the organization and should get consideration for Pacific Coast League MVP.

But Piniella has said each of the last two days he plans to lean on the guys who have been with the club, and not the September call-ups, to close out the team's business this month.

''We're going to play our regular players, and if needed, then we can go to some of the kids that have been here,'' he said. ''But this is not a time to start experimenting too much.''"