A day after manager Lou Piniella told Fukudome to shorten his stride at the plate, the right fielder responded with a three-hit, four-RBI performance to lead the Cubs over the Pirates, 12-3, at PNC Park on Monday night.

"I'll tell you what, he looks very 'hitter-ish' up there right now," Piniella said.

Fukudome, who said after the game that Piniella has a keen eye for the little things, went into the contest in a 1-for-11 slump but sprayed hit after hit to all corners of the field on Monday.

He began the night with a sacrifice fly to right field in the second and drove in two more runs in the fifth on a single to left. He then doubled home the Cubs' last run in the ninth with a frozen rope to the right-field corner.

All that because his right toes are a few inches closer to the ground?

"[It's] the more compact swing [and] better recognition of balls and strikes," Piniella said. "It all happens when that front foot hits, as opposed to really going out. It makes a big difference."

Fukudome's night was part of a 17-hit attack in which every starter collected at least one hit with the exception of catcher Geovany Soto.

The barrage came at the expense of Pirates starter Jeff Karstens, who blanked Chicago for six innings on Aug. 1 in his National League debut. The Cubs denied the right-hander double satisfaction with a big third inning.

Derrek Lee, who returned to the lineup after missing Sunday's game with back spasms, notched an RBI single, and Aramis Ramirez added a three-run homer to left field to put the Cubs up, 5-0. The homer was Ramirez's third three-run shot in as many games.

Chicago scored five more runs in the fifth off Pirates reliever Jason Davis, who suddenly became wild after a quick 1-2-3 fourth.

Davis threw a pitch past catcher Ryan Doumit, allowing Ryan Theriot to score. Jim Edmonds added a two-run double, Fukudome singled in Edmonds and starter Ted Lilly helped his own cause when he singled in the Cubs' 10th run to cap off the fifth.

The Cubs added two insurance runs in the eighth and ninth, and four hitters (Fukudome, Edmonds, Lee and Ramirez) finished with three hits each.

"We swung the bats tonight," Piniella said. "It was a good night offensively. You've got to come prepared to play every day. Today we were prepared and swung the bats and got good pitching and won a baseball game."

Lilly, despite giving up home runs to two left-handed hitters, picked up his 13th win of the year. He threw his cutter effectively and kept the Pirates' hitters on their heels the entire night.

His most impressive pitch came in the sixth, when he struck out third baseman Andy LaRoche looking with a sleepy, 73-mph curveball.

"I felt OK," Lilly said. "It's definitely nice when you go out there and swing the bats the way we're capable of. Even though, that being the case, when you get a big lead like that, you still want to bear down and make all your pitches.

"I felt like I got away with a few. All in all, any time we can get into a series with the first win, it sets the tone for the rest of the series."

As for Fukudome, the Cubs expect the right fielder to return to his normal No. 5 spot in the lineup if he continues down the same path as he did on Monday night.

"He's looking like the hitter he was earlier in the season," Piniella said. "When you're a good hitter, you can make adjustments real quick. It's plain and simple. Let him keep swinging. We could really use his bat."

Edmonds' three-hit performance was also enlightening for Chicago, as the veteran entered the contest hitless in his previous eight games.

"I haven't been swinging the bat well over the last week, and I needed to square some balls up," Edmonds said. "Hopefully, that will get me going again."

The win puts the Cubs a season-high 31 games over .500. The last time they were that high was in 1984, when they finished the season with a 96-65 record.

The record doesn't impress Piniella.

"I'm not interested in historical landmarks," he said. "I'm just interested in playing."