The wounded were back in action Sunday.
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One day after being hit by batted balls in separate incidents, veteran infielder Luis Salazar and bullpen catcher Dan Simonds were fine and on the field again.
Salazar was hauled off the field on a golf cart and taken to a local hospital for X-rays Saturday after Joe Girardi hit him in the left knee during batting practice. That was the knee on whih Salazar had surgery in 1985, putting him out of action for more than a season.
But Salazar was fine Sunday and went 1 for 4 and drove in a run in the series finale against the Giants.
Simonds was hit in the side of the head by a line drive off the bat of Kevin Bass during batting practice Saturday. He was fine Sunday, but was suffering in the clubhouse as he watched his beloved Boston Celtics get crushed by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
– At the winter meetings last December, the Cubs were close to trading Mark Grace and Jerome Walton to Kansas City for right-hander Kevin Appier, first baseman Todd Benzinger and infielder Kevin Seitzer. The deal never came off, which may have been a blessing in disguise. The Cubs would love to have Appier, who has the second-best earned-run average in the majors behind Roger Clemens. But Cubs pitching has been more than adequate lately. What the Cubs really need is more hitting. Grace is one of the few Cubs hitting lately. He is 21 for 61 (.344) with 13 walks in his last 17 games. Benzinger, who would have been playing first if the deal had come off, is hitting .185 with the Dodgers, where he ended up. With him in the lineup, the Cubs might have been shut out eight times instead of their league-leading seven.
– Speaking of shutouts, Cubs pitchers haven`t thrown one yet this year. The Cubs are the only team in the majors without a shutout.
– Giants first baseman Will Clark is a lifetime .302 hitter, but he has this thing about hitting against the Cubs. He can`t do it. Lifetime, Clark is 50 for 230 against the Cubs. In the weekend series, he was 0 for 8 in the first two games before going 2 for 4 in the series finale. Both of his hits came off Mike Morgan, which was hardly surprising since Clark is batting .500 (9 for 18) against Morgan. ”He`s gotten a lot of hits, but most of them have been singles with nobody on base,” said Morgan. ”I`ve gotten him out a lot in key situations.”
– Ryne Sandberg stole his second base of the road trip against the Giants. That was No. 301 in his career. He needs three more to tie Joe Tinker, who is second on the team`s all-time stolen base list. The all-time leader is Frank Chance with 404.
– In the last 12 games, Cubs starting pitchers have a combined 2.54 ERA, yielding 24 earned runs in 85 innings. . . . Giants relievers pitched three scoreless innings Sunday and now have a 1.80 ERA, eight runs in 40 innings, over their last 11 games. Starter Dave Burba was taking the place of six-game winner Bill Swift, who was scratched because of tightness in his right shoulder.