Cubs starter Matt Clement said he doesn’t expect to miss any starts after leaving Sunday’s 10-3 loss to Houston in the fifth inning with a strained muscle in his upper back/neck region.
Clement originally felt the tightness in the fourth inning and tried to pitch through it. But after giving up a home run and getting one out the next inning, he left the game.
“It kept getting tighter and tighter, and it was causing me to throw the ball differently,” Clement said.
TUBE TALK: Television announcers Chip Caray and Steve Stone have been taking criticism from Cubs players all season, most notably Moises Alou and most recently Kent Mercker.
Dusty Baker hasn’t criticized the announcers, but he hasn’t backed them unequivocally, suggesting Sunday “there could be some merit” to the players’ complaints.
“At times it appears it’s more focused on what we haven’t done than what we’re doing and what we’re accomplishing,” he said.
EXTRA INNINGS: Catcher Michael Barrett had his career-best 12-game hitting streak broken Sunday with an 0-for-3 day, although he did reach base on a walk and an error. … Third baseman Aramis Ramirez was held out of Sunday’s game to rest his chronic groin strain, worsened by playing most of Saturday’s game on the wet field.
