--C Geovany Soto had his right shoulder examined in Chicago. Soto came out of Tuesday's game at Houston because he felt soreness after making a throw, and he missed Wednesday's series finale. The Cubs reiterated that Soto is day-to-day for the weekend series at Milwaukee. Both Soto and manager Lou Piniella downplayed the seriousness of the ailment Wednesday.

--1B Derrek Lee is off to a 2-for-13 start. He struck out three times Wednesday and has four K's among his 13 at-bats. Lee missed time in spring training with a sore right quadriceps, but he says he's OK. In the first month of 2008, Lee was 40-for-110 (.364) with eight homers.

--RHP Angel Guzman, whose spot on the club wasn't assured until the final day of spring training, has worked in two games. In two innings, Guzman has given up one hit while striking out three. Signed as a minor league free agent out of Venezuela in 1999, Guzman has been a perennial prospect, but elbow and shoulder problems that began in 2003 nearly derailed his career. He came on strong late in spring training, and the Cubs still are intrigued by his live arm. He could figure into the team's rotation plans next season.

--RHP Carlos Marmol worked in the first and third games of the Houston series, as manager Lou Piniella avoided using him in the middle game. Marmol led the Cubs with 82 appearances last year, and Piniella wants to resist the temptation of going to his top setup man too many times. Marmol hit five batters in the spring, and he still may be feeling for his control and stuff. He did not record a strikeout in either appearance against the Astros. Last year, Marmol struck out 114 in 87 1/3 innings.

MEDICAL WATCH:

C Geovany Soto (sore right shoulder) left the April 7 game and did not play April 8. He is day-to-day.

RHP Rich Harden (chronic right shoulder problems) had the double whammy of coming down with a bad case of food poisoning late in camp. The Cubs were looking at a total of four spring starts for Harden, who is slated to start the fourth game of the regular season. The velocity on the fastball was in the low-90s, and both he and the Cubs say the shoulder is healthy.

INF Aaron Miles (sore right shoulder) nursed the injury through the spring. The Cubs want him to fill in at second base, third base and shortstop. But the shoulder limited him mainly to second base for the second half of the Cactus League season.

ROTATION:

1. RHP Carlos Zambrano

2. RHP Ryan Dempster

3. LHP Ted Lilly

4. RHP Rich Harden

5. LHP Sean Marshall

BULLPEN:

RHP Kevin Gregg (closer)

RHP Carlos Marmol

RHP Aaron Heilman

LHP Neal Cotts

RHP Luis Vizcaino

RHP Angel Guzman

RHP David Patton

LINEUP:

1. LF Alfonso Soriano

2. CF Kosuke Fukudome

3. 1B Derrek Lee

4. RF Milton Bradley

5. 3B Aramis Ramirez

6. 2B Mike Fontenot

7. C Geovany Soto

8. SS Ryan Theriot

RESERVES:

INF Aaron Miles

C Koyie Hill

OF Reed Johnson

OF Joey Gathright

1B/OF Micah Hoffpauir