The Cubs plan to put right-hander Shawn Boskie on the disabled list, which will solve two problems at once: It will give Boskie a chance to rest his painful shoulder and it will open a spot on the roster for the return of Sammy Sosa.
Boskie has been bothered for nearly two months by recurring soreness in the trapezius muscle of his right shoulder, which runs down the neck and under the collarbone. He missed a scheduled start last week and another at the end of June. ”I tried throwing today and it was the same old thing,” Boskie said Sunday. ”I felt fine until I threw hard and then I had a sharp shooting pain under the collarbone.”
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Boskie`s next scheduled start would have been Tuesday against the Pirates at Wrigley Field. He is expected to be replaced by Jeff D. Robinson, who started in Boskie`s place at Cincinnati last Tuesday and pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings of a 1-0 victory. ”At this point, it`s discouraging,” said Boskie, who is 5-6, but winless since June 2.
– Sosa`s broken hand is healed, and he has been at Triple-A Iowa for the last week hoping to get some playing time before returning to the major-league roster, but rain canceled three games. Sosa broke his hand June 12 when he was hit by a pitch from Montreal`s Dennis Martinez.
He was hot before he was hurt, going 11 for his last 35 with four home runs. General Manager Larry Himes will make the call on the Boskie and Sosa moves, but they could come as early as Monday. ”Larry will decide that, but I sure would love to have Sosa for the Pittsburgh series,” manager Jim Lefebvre said before leaving Houston.
– First-base coach Jose Martinez celebrated his 50th birthday Sunday and got a special greeting on the Astrodome scoreboard. Only it wasn`t the greeting he expected. Third-base coach Chuck Cottier and catcher Joe Girardi twisted some arms and got the scoreboard operator to make a convenient typo in the salute. It congratulated Martinez on his 60th birthday.
– One thing is certain: Jim Bullinger`s batting average never will drop any quicker than it did Sunday. Bullinger had homered in his only major-league at- bat coming into the game. When he grounded out to end the ninth inning, his average fell to .500. The new hitting leader among pitchers is Chuck McElroy, who doubled in what proved to be an important run in the eighth. It was McElroy`s third extra-base hit of the season in six at-bats and raised his average to .667.