Swollen thumb sidelines Lee

The Cubs will be keeping a close eye on what appears to be a minor, but nagging, injury with first baseman Derrek Lee.

Lee left Monday's game with what the Cubs called right-thumb inflammation. He went for X-rays, and the club termed them negative, ruling out a fracture or a tear. They said Lee is day to day, and it's possible he could be out of the lineup when the Cubs resume play Wednesday.

"He's had that little sprain," said manager Lou Piniella. "He hit a ball that jarred his finger a little bit, and we got him out of the ballgame. He had some swelling in it."

Lee had a bandage on the hand on the recent road trip after hurting it in Atlanta.

He downplayed the injury then, but he seemed to be favoring the hand after batting early in Monday's game. Piniella said the X-ray was "precautionary."

Lilly gets a restart: If Ted Lilly had his way, he'd be back sooner rather than later.

As it is, he reported good progress as he threw 25-30 pitches off the mound Monday as he continues his comeback from last November's shoulder surgery.

Lilly suffered a setback after his April 4 minor-league start in Arizona as his back stiffened. If he feels good Tuesday, he'll head out to Class AAA Iowa Wednesday for a rehab game.

"I pitched in the minor-league game; I felt good, threw the ball good," he said of the April 4 game. "I came out of it a little bit stiff but didn't think too much of it. I went to throw a bullpen Tuesday after my start on Sunday, and I couldn't rotate. The more I moved, the worse it got. It's mid-back muscle tightness. I had a hard time bending over."

Lou Piniella said Lilly would throw about 60 pitches Wednesday. His return to the Cubs rotation is still unknown, but the Cubs may want him to make another rehab start after Wednesday.

Soriano's situation: Left fielder Alfonso Soriano heard some boos when he was introduced and some derisive cheers when he made a routine catch on a ball hit by the first batter of the game.

Soriano made a key error in Sunday's loss at Cincinnati, and the subject came up again whether Lou Piniella would have to remove him for defense late in games. Soriano came out in the seventh inning Monday.

"We're going to be doing that for awhile with leads," Piniella said. "We'll put (Tyler) Colvin out there or whoever. It'll probably be Colvin for defense. Soriano is a team player. We'll do that for the time being anyway."

This and that: Reliever Jeff Samardzija worked in his first game in a week, tossing a scoreless eighth ... Xavier Nady's homer was his first since Sept. 28, 2008, while with the Yankees ... All 9 runs the Cubs scored came after two outs.