CHICAGO -- Jim Edmonds has reached the postseason six times, all with the St. Louis Cardinals, and that includes three straight years of October baseball from 2004-06.

With all that experience, the Cubs outfielder must know the secret formula that teams need for the final month of play. His team, which opens a three-game series in Cincinnati on Friday, could use some advice.

"There's no secret or key," Edmonds said. "You just have to keep going. You just have to want to win, you really do. You have to want to win, you just can't expect to win.

"I think we've been doing that," he said. "I think we've been playing well. There's always going to be bumps in the road. We need to keep moving forward and stay positive and just keep playing the same game."

Those bumps include the team's first five-game losing streak at home, extended on Wednesday with a 4-0 loss to the Houston Astros. It was the only the third time that the Cubs were swept this year, and first since June 27-29 at the White Sox.

The Cincinnati series opens a long stretch away from home in which the Cubs will play 16 of their final 22 games in road gray. They open with a nine-game road trip that will include stops in St. Louis and Houston next week. Chicago has only six home games remaining, Sept. 16-18 vs. Milwaukee and Sept. 19-21 vs. St. Louis.

"There's no reason to panic," Edmonds said. "We're still 4 1/2 [games] up, we still have a good team, we're still playing well. We're going to lose games.

"I wouldn't panic," he said. "I wouldn't panic if we were one game up and everybody was hurt and we were losing people. We're intense, we're all healthy, and we just hit a little bump in the road. We just have to keep playing."

Cubs manager Lou Piniella also knows a thing or two about the postseason. He's played in five World Series, not to mention managed the 1990 Reds to a championship.

"This last month is a month when you reap the rewards of playing well all summer," Piniella said. "You get yourself in a position to win, and you enjoy the situation and you come out to the ballpark with expectations of winning a baseball game and giving yourself a chance to go to the postseason and further.

"I enjoyed it immensely as a player," he said. "It should bring out the best in you, the competitive spirit in you. Pressure is only self-inflicted. You have confidence in what you're doing, you have confidence in your teammates and it's a fun time to play. That's how I felt as a player."

Pitching matchup
CHC: LHP Ted Lilly (13-8, 4.23 ERA)
Lilly is 0-3 against the Reds this season. He is coming off a loss to the Phillies in which he gave up three runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings. the left-hander is 14 strikeouts shy of tying his career high of 174, set last season. Lilly is ranked among the National League leaders in home runs, having served up 30 this year. He has gone at least six innings in nine straight starts.

CIN: RHP Bronson Arroyo (13-10, 4.97 ERA)
Arroyo, the reigning NL Co-Player of the Week, has been on a nice roll. He has a three-start winning streak and posted a 2.62 ERA in five August starts. Since a June 24 debacle at Toronto where he lasted just one-plus innings and allowed 10 runs, he's won nine of his last 12 starts. During Sunday's 9-3 victory over the Giants, Arroyo gave up two earned runs and 10 hits without a walk, striking out five over seven innings.

Tidbits
Mark your calendar: The Cubs' game on Sept. 20 vs. the Cardinals at Wrigley Field will now start at 2:55 p.m. CT to accommodate FOX TV. ... Mark DeRosa is 9-for-18 (.500) against Arroyo, Derrek Lee is 6-for-26 (.231), Aramis Ramirez is 8-for-33 (.242) and Alfonso Soriano is 8-for-36 (.222). ... Expect Rich Harden to return to the rotation next Wednesday at St. Louis. ... Kevin Hart was called up from Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday. ... Before Wednesday's game, a representative from Chevrolet presented a check to Ryan Dempster, who was the Cubs' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. Because Dempster was pitching, Jason Marquis accepted the award on Dempster's behalf. ... On Friday, the Iowa Cubs will continue their first-round playoff series in Oklahoma. They took a 1-0 lead in the series Wednesday when Jason Dubois had two doubles, hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs to help Iowa rally for a 10-3 win over Oklahoma in the first game. Randy Wells picked up the win, giving up two runs on six hits over six innings and striking out six. Felix Pie had two RBIs. Iowa finished 83-59 and won the American South Division. ... Rain has wreaked havoc with the first round of the Florida State League playoffs. A torrential downpour halted play Tuesday with the Class A Daytona Cubs trailing Palm Beach, 4-0, in the fifth. Because the game did not reach regulation, the score was wiped out. The series began anew Wednesday, and Daytona rallied to score six runs in the eighth inning to beat Palm Beach, 10-9. Jim Adducci, Russ Canzler and Ty Wright each had two RBIs. ... Michael Brenly recorded his 13th multihit game in Class A Boise's 6-4 loss to Spokane. Brenly, son of Cubs television analyst Bob Brenly, had recorded multiple hits in five of his last six games.

Tickets
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On the Internet
 MLB.TV
 Gameday Audio
•  Gameday
•  Official game notes

On television
• CSN+

On radio
• WGN 720

Up next
• Saturday: Cubs (Jason Marquis, 9-8, 4.46) at Reds (Johnny Cueto, 8-12, 4.65), 6:10 p.m. CT
• Sunday: Cubs (Carlos Zambrano, 13-5, 3.58) at Reds (Aaron Harang, 4-15, 5.24), 12:15 p.m. CT
• Monday: Off-day