--3B Aramis Ramirez tested his sore left calf by running on the outfield grass, and he felt well enough for the Cubs to decide against putting him on the disabled list. Ramirez suffered the injury April 24 and has not played since. An MRI performed in Chicago on Thursday revealed inflammation, but Ramirez may be able to start in the weekend series against Florida. The Cubs brought INF Bobby Scales to Wrigley Field from Class AAA Iowa, but they sent him back without activating him when Ramirez said he was OK.
--C Geovany Soto and C Koyie Hill look as if they will share time for the time being. Hill started Thursday. Soto entered the day batting .111, and he was 3-for-16 in throwing out base stealers. He had been bothered early in the season by a sore right shoulder. Hill moved to third base in the 10th inning, marking his first major league game as an infielder. --RHP Carlos Zambrano became the seventh pitcher to reach 1,200 strikeouts while with the Cubs when he fanned Arizona OF Chris Young in the second inning Tuesday. At the plate, Zambrano came a triple short of the cycle. He homered leading off the seventh. It was the 17th home run of his career, tops among Cubs pitchers all time.
BY THE NUMBERS: 11 -- Through the weekend series at St. Louis, Cubs starting pitchers already had turned in 11 quality starts for the season. With the offense struggling, the Cubs were only 5-6 in those games.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I will talk to him on a daily basis, and we'll see if he's ready to play. When he's ready, we'll get him in there." -- Manager Lou Piniella on RF Milton Bradley, who finally returned from a strained right groin on April 28.
