Worried Cubs send Baker, Zambrano to hospital

The Cubs dealt with a couple of strange medical situations Thursday.

First, pitcher Carlos Zambrano was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital because of pain in his lower right abdomen.

The symptoms were similar to those of appendicitis, according to the Cubs, who said late in the day that doctors had ruled that out. A Cubs spokesman said the problem was nothing more than pain in Zambrano's "lower right quadrant" and that he should be available to pitch out of the bullpen Friday.

Also, third baseman Jeff Baker had to leave the Cubs' 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers with vision problems.

Baker also went to Northwestern to see the team ophthalmologist.

"He couldn't see out of his right eye," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella, who removed Baker from the game after the Dodgers' Russell Martin singled past Baker into left field.

"It was a little scary," Piniella said. "He had no vision at all out of his right eye. So we had to get him out of there."

Zambrano seemed OK in the clubhouse before the game as he joked around the teammates. But the Cubs said he reported the pain to the team trainer shortly before the 1:20 p.m. first pitch of the game.

The Cubs are working to get Zambrano back into the starting rotation after more than a monthlong stint in the bullpen. He is supposed to be able to pitch in short relief Friday or Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals before starting in one of the games at Pittsburgh next week.

Zambrano was the Cubs' opening-day starter, but he was exiled to the pen in late April after Ted Lilly came off the disabled list.

"What I'm hoping for is when Zambrano goes in the rotation he pitches the way he's really capable of and runs off some really good ballgames for us and wins," Piniella said. "That's really the most important thing. He's certainly very capable of it. The way he's throwing now, just carry that forward and I think he'll get some really, really good results."