Andre Dawson, who delivered a pinch grand slam in Friday night`s game, said his knees were ”just real stiff” after his first outing on artificial turf Thursday night.
”I felt funny running,” he said. ”I didn`t expect that.”
Dawson made it clear he`s feeling no pain in the knees, which have been pain-free since the start of the spring.
Still, manager Don Zimmer didn`t start Dawson Friday night for three reasons: Three Rivers Stadium`s artificial turf was damp, he`ll play the next two days against lefties and the manager wanted to give Dwight Smith a chance to hit. He had two at-bats before Friday.
”It`s pretty tough to ask guys to pinch-hit if they don`t have any at-bats,” Zimmer said.
Left-field George Bell is expected to get a rest some time in the few days for the same reason.
– Heathcliff Slocumb has not lived up to his advance billing, and it`s a good thing.
The Cubs` reports said the reliever had a good fastball but no idea where it was going.
”That was early in my career,” Slocumb said.
The new, improved Slocumb has walked one in 7 1/3 innings. He has yet to allow a run.
”If I`m missing, I`m missing low,” he said. ”I`m not walking guys because I`m able to correct myself much quicker.”
– Rick Sutcliffe couldn`t get to sleep until 6:30 a.m. Friday because he was so wired after his first victory in 18 months.
”I feel like I`m real close,” he said. ”I`m not there yet. I throw one fastball at 85, 86 (miles per hour), and the next will be 82.”