Ryne Sandberg said he wouldn`t mind saving some of his hits for the regular season, but the Cubs` second baseman collected three Monday, including his first homer of the spring, to lead the Cubs to a 6-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in a split-squad game.
The rest of the team traveled to Tucson and defeated the Cleveland Indians 6-2. The Cubs` Cactus League record is 8-3, surpassing their victory total of all of last spring, when they finished 7-20.
”We`re way ahead of schedule,” said manager Jim Frey. ”Actually, our only goal was to play as well as possible this spring.”
Winning pitcher Steve Trout started against the Brewers and went five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. In addition to his first-inning homer, Sandberg had a run-scoring single in the sixth.
Reggie Patterson was the winner in Tucson against the Indians.
— The Cubs announced that minor-league outfielder Damon Farmar is the player owed Oakland from last season`s Chuck Rainey-for-Davey Lopes trade. Farmar hit .252 at Class A Lodi last season.
— The Cubs formally announced the return of catcher Jamie Nelson to the Brewers Monday. Purchased conditionally from Milwaukee Dec. 2, Nelson was nursing a strained right shoulder and never appeared in an exhibition game this spring.
— Right-hander Bill Johnson is still hampered by tendinitis in his right shoulder, but he was able to throw in the bullpen Monday. ”He`s feeling better,” said pitching coach Billy Connors. Others with nagging injuries include Gary Woods (hip pointer), Chris Speier (strained right shoulder) and Gary Matthews (fluid in right knee).
