Worth noting

• Concerned that his comments from Wednesday night had been misinterpreted, manager Mike Matheny clarified on Thursday that his explanation about how the next-day starter is prepared to pitch in an emergency was not meant to be a blanket statement. Circumstances and who that next-day starter is, Matheny said, play a role in determining whether to use that starter or turn the game over to the bullpen.

"There's no policy. There's no rule," Matheny said. "We stay pretty fluid, and we stay in contact with our guys, and they see if we have some young pitchers who we keep firing out there who have never done this before. Yesterday we were in a bind. And Jake [Westbrook] knew. Now, do we have it written in their contract that they have to be ready? There's nothing formal about it. If that's how it came across, then that's an apology I need to give, because that's not the message. That's not the truth. The truth is that our guys realize that sometimes we have to adjust to do what we need to do."

Not wanting to use relievers Kevin Siegrist and Seth Maness because of their recent workload, Matheny felt his best option was to go to Westbrook.

"Yesterday was the perfect storm of things that we didn't want to happen," he said. "We were stuck in a spot, and Jake realized that and took care of us."

• According to Matheny, catcher Yadier Molina (sprained right knee) was scheduled to swing a bat on Thursday for the first time since landing on the disabled list. Molina is eligible to come off the 15-day DL next Thursday, though it is still not known if he will be ready by that date.

• Matheny chose to start catcher Rob Johnson instead of Tony Cruz on Thursday because of Johnson's rapport with rookie starter Carlos Martinez. Until his callup to St. Louis last month, Johnson was the primary catcher for Triple-A Memphis.

• The Cubs are scheduled to start the following pitchers in the upcoming series at Busch Stadium this weekend: Chris Rusin (1-1, 3.98 ERA), Carlos Villanueva (2-8, 4.26 ERA) and Edwin Jackson (7-12, 4.96 ERA).