DENVER -- With his 14th steal Friday, Derrek Lee pulled into second place, tying Corey Patterson, in Cubs stolen bases this season. Matt Lawton, who began the year in Pittsburgh, has 16 swipes -- all with the Pirates.

Lee was one of two 20/20 men in 2003, stealing 21 bases and hitting 31 home runs, but it has been since 1956 that a first baseman has led the Cubs in steals, when fleet-footed Dee Fondy tied outfielder Solly Drake with nine swipes.

Given that perspective, it's understandable that manager Dusty Baker finds himself yearning for a team capable of a more aggressive running game.

"I need some speed," Baker said before Saturday's game, looking ahead to the long-term needs the team will need to address in the future. "I love speed, you know me. But loving speed and having speed are two different things."

Lee's stolen base only highlighted Patterson's difficulties Friday night, as he made two baserunning blunders, at least one of which cost the Cubs a run.

Baker gave a suicide squeeze sign in the second inning with Patterson on third, one out, and Mark Prior at the plate. According to Prior, he didn't see Patterson make a break, so he took a full swing, hitting a grounder to second. Patterson was thrown out at home, sliding into catcher Danny Ardoin and coming to a stop well before hitting the plate. The short slide, Baker said, was the result of a bat blocking the plate, but the fundamental issue was the inability to execute the early break from third.

"I don't even know if he's ever been involved in a squeeze play," Baker said. "We instruct guys in Spring Training about when to leave, when to do this, when to do that. But the thing about teaching at this level, there's a lot of things that you assume that they already know and were taught.

"They might have been taught, but [they haven't been] applying it. Therefore, most of your teaching is done after a mistake. A lot of things you assume they may know until they make a mistake, and then you have to teach them then."

Patterson's other miscue came after he led off the eighth inning with a single to center. Henry Blanco hit a fly ball to left field and Matt Holliday caught Patterson rounding second. Holliday made a rocket of a throw to first, barely catching Patterson for the double play.

"He needs improvement," said Baker. "That's one of the things I wanted him to work on when he went down [for a 24-game stretch in Triple-A Iowa in July and August], not just hitting. You need an overhaul on your total game, whether it's baserunning, whether it's getting jumps on balls.

"These are things that we wanted him to go down there and work on. That's why I wanted him to talk to Vince [Coleman, the Cubs Minor League baserunning instructor] when he went down about baserunning."

Though speed is a skill that can't be "taught," baserunning is among the fundamentals of the game that have played their part in the Cubs' streaky path throughout the season. If the Cubs have a "speed man," it is Patterson, but if they have a running game, it is flawed.

Patterson led the club with 32 steals in '04, joining Eric Young and Brian McRae as the only Cubs to steal more than 30 bases in a season over the past 10 years. His lower numbers on the base paths this season are largely a result of his diminished ability to get on base, hitting .233 with a .270 on-base percentage.

"It's not like a new problem," said Baker of the Cubs' historic struggles with speed. "It's a problem that's probably harder to address than getting run producers. Speed is probably one of the hardest things to find in this game. Speed that can play. Speed that can get on base in order to utilize that speed."

Yes, we have no Nomar: Nomar Garciaparra was out of the lineup for the second day in a row Saturday. He was pulled early from Wednesday's game in Houston after hurting his back on a fielding play, and despite improving with the off-day Thursday and a day on the bench Friday, Baker wants to remain cautious.

"He possibly could have gone today, but we figure we'll wait until tomorrow to make sure, so he can go in that Braves series, too," Baker said. "He'll probably go tomorrow. Yesterday he swung, and it didn't bother him to hit. He didn't get a chance to do any fielding, so he's going to do some fielding today and see how that comes out.

"With only five extra men [position players on the bench], we really couldn't afford to start him and take him out of the game early again. We decided it would be better to wait until tomorrow."

The weather ultimately could play a role in that decision. Shortly before the Cubs were to take the field for batting practice Saturday, it began to rain. The Cubs took batting practice indoors, but Garciaparra went another day without practicing in the field.

Woody's ready: In the two weeks since joining the Cubs bullpen, Kerry Wood has pitched in seven games for a total of eight innings, recording one hit, 14 strikeouts and no earned runs. He's shown he can pitch multiple innings, though the Cubs don't expect to ask him too often.

The one thing he has yet to do is pitch in back-to-back games. But if the situation calls for him in the eighth, Saturday night could be the night he shows whether he can be effective in consecutive games.

"First thing when I saw him, he didn't even say hello, he just said, 'Hey, man, I'm ready. I can go today,'" Baker said, recalling their brief conversation before Saturday's game. "The good thing is that he hasn't thrown too many pitches in these innings."

Wood has thrown 120 pitches from the bullpen, averaging 15 pitches an inning.

Minor matters: The Triple-A Iowa Cubs lost a squeaker to Albuquerque on Friday, falling, 4-3, in 11 innings. Center fielder Calvin Murray was 4-for-6 and stole a bag.

Double-A West Tenn also had a one-run game, losing, 6-5, to Montgomery. Right fielder Luis Montanez went 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs and two RBIs. Third baseman Casey McGehee was 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs.

The Class A Daytona Cubs were trounced, 11-3, by St. Lucie. Second baseman Robinson Chirinos went 2-for-3, and left fielder Paul O'Toole was 2-for-4 with a double.

Class A Peoria lost its fifth consecutive game by a score of 7-4 at Quad Cities. Second baseman Eric Patterson connected for his 13th homer of the season.

The Class A Boise Hawks took the organization's only Minor League victory Saturday, a 7-4 win over Vancouver. Right-hander Matt Avery gave the Hawks a strong start, going five innings and letting up one run on three hits. Right fielder John Defendis was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs.

On deck: The Cubs send veteran Greg Maddux (10-9, 4.40 ERA) against Rockies rookie Jeff Francis (11-9, 5.87 ERA) in the series finale at Coors Field on Sunday.