Worth noting

• Cubs manager Dale Sveum didn't shy away from the fact that a few misplaced pitches in the fourth inning Saturday night spoiled starter Carlos Villanueva's outing.

Villanueva walked Rockies pitcher Juan Nicasio with two outs in the fourth on a 3-2 slider, then tried a fastball on leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler that he smoked for a two-run triple to put Colorado up 3-1. Although those two pitches seemed like an especially cruel turn for the Cubs, Sveum said he could find such a fortuitous break in almost any game.

"Mostly every night, you can look back on something, whether it was a pitch selection or last night, it was obviously we walked the pitcher on a breaking ball," Sveum said. "Changed that whole game around, snowballed right after."

• A year ago, Matt Garza was also a trade chip before an injury just weeks before the July 31 Trade Deadline squashed his value. But Sveum said the team can't worry about an injury again keeping the Cubs from picking up the pieces they need to build for the future.

"Obviously we know those things can happen to anybody at any given time, but you certainly don't change things or do anything different," he said.