Fired-up Bradley returns, but gets tossed by umpire

That didn't take long.

Milton Bradley made his first appearance since Sunday during Thursday's 7-4 loss to the Cardinals. Pinch hitting with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning, Bradley ran the count to 3-0 before taking 3 straight strikes, the last one a breaking ball that appeared low and inside.

Umpire Larry Vanover rang up Bradley and then threw him out of the game when Bradley reacted angrily. It was Bradley's first appearance since straining his groin in this past Sunday's game at Milwaukee.

Bradley, who has had run-ins with umpires before, left Wrigley Field before reporters could talk with him. Manager Lou Piniella didn't offer much.

"Obviously, he thought it was a ball," Piniella said. "I couldn't tell from my vantage point."

When asked about Bradley's reaction, Piniella said: "What do you want me to say?"

First baseman Derrek Lee was careful not to rip Vanover, but he did stick up for Bradley.

"No, I'm not concerned about Milton," Lee said. "He's going to be a huge part of this lineup. It was his first at-bat at home in a big situation. He's been out, what, 3, 4, 5 days, whatever it is. That's a tough situation to pinch hit right, so I'm not too concerned about Milton.

"I like it. He said what he had to say. He walked off. That's him. He's intense. It was a big situation. He wanted to do well and got upset. That's OK. He didn't do anything malicious. He was coming out of the game anyway. Now, he's just got to pay 500 bucks."

Lee said he was in the clubhouse watching the at-bat on TV.

"I don't want to say anything bad about Larry, but (Cardinals pitcher Adam) Wainwright wasn't throwing a lot of strikes in that situation. I thought he got the benefit of the doubt when the hitter probably should have been given the benefit of the doubt."

Doing the wave: Kosuke Fukudome's homer was his third of the season. He's 12-for-32 (.375) for the season with 8 RBI, an on-base percentage of .487 and a slugging percentage of .781. He played center field and had to wave to fans in both sets of bleachers upon taking his position.

"I'm very glad to have them, but it's very difficult to wave to both sides," Fukudome joked.

Harden oddity: Checking with the Elias Sports Bureau, the Cubs found this tidbit about Rich Harden's 3-inning performance Wednesday:

Harden faced 17 batters, allowing 5 hits and 4 walks and striking out eight. In other words, every batter he faced got either a hit, a walk or a strikeout. No other pitcher over the past 80 years had faced as many batters in a big-league game with each batter getting a hit, a walk or a strikeout, according to the research.