Eyre on side of caution
Reliever Scott Eyre could return to the 25-man roster within a couple of weeks in a best-case scenario.
Eyre was scheduled to throw Sunday in Mesa, Ariz. The left-hander was placed on the 15-day disabled list March 23 with inflammation in his throwing elbow.
"We'll decide where he goes after today," general manager Jim Hendry said.
The time frame for Eyre's return is open-ended depending on how the elbow responds.
"We're going to send him down to (Class A) Daytona Beach or someplace that's warm and let him get some work there, face some hitters," manager Lou Piniella said. "Those are our plans, but he's probably still not on the horizon yet of being here.
"He's been out a while now and he's going to need a little time. What's a little time? A week to 10 days? I don't know."
With Eyre on the disabled list, Sean Marshall has been the lone left-hander out of the bullpen since his April 9 recall from Iowa.
Though Marshall started 19 games in 2007 and produced 10 quality outings, Piniella said he is reluctant to use him in long relief without another left-handed reliever available for situational use.
Marshall had thrown 3½ scoreless innings in 5 appearances before giving up a run in the ninth Sunday.
"His stints will be shorter, a few hitters, maybe an inning," Piniella said of Marshall. "But no more than an inning. I've got enough right-handers. We've got (Jon) Lieber, who can pitch innings and we're trying to develop (Kevin) Hart to be able to do those things, too.
"But with one lefty in the bullpen it's just too difficult to extend Marshall. He's done a nice job of getting in and out of ballgames and getting some outs."
Per-cyst-ent problem: Kosuke Fukudome originally was penciled into Sunday's lineup, but he was scratched after batting practice due to a cyst above his right eye.
"It was a little infected, so they cleaned it out and they closed his eye a little bit," Lou Piniella said. "He couldn't see really, really well out of his front eye, his right eye, so we took him out of the ballgame. He'll be playing (today)."
Sunday marked the first time this season that Fukudome did not appear in a game. He had started 16 games and made a pinch-hit appearance in the other.
Shades of 2003: The Cubs scored 13 or more runs in back-to-back games this weekend for the first time since July 20-21, 2003, when they scored 16 runs against Florida a day before posting 15 against Atlanta.
Scouting report
Cubs vs. New York Mets at Wrigley Field
TV: Today Channel 26/ESPN, Tuesday Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WGN 720-AM
Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Carlos Zambrano (2-1) vs. John Maine (1-1) today at 6:05 p.m.; Ted Lilly (0-3) vs. Nelson Figueroa (1-0) Tuesday at 1:20 p.m.
At a glance: Two teams favored to challenge for the National League pennant square off in a two-game series. The Cubs throw their Nos. 1 and 2 starters at the Mets, who counter with a pair of right-handers. Maine earned his first victory of the season in his last start at Washington, holding the Nationals to 2 earned runs on 5 hits with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts in 62/3 innings. Former Cub Angel Pagan entered Sunday's game against Philadelphia hitting .319 (19-for-60) with 6 doubles. The Cubs won't face the Mets again until the final week of the regular season when they bid farewell to Shea Stadium with a four-game series Sept. 22-25.
Next: Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, Wednesday-Thursday