Barney joins long list of Cubs placed on disabled list

Darwin Barney put it succinctly Wednesday when asked about his sore left knee.

“It hurts,” he said.

It hurt enough for the Cubs to put their rookie second baseman on the 15-day disabled list with a badly sprained knee. An MRI done Tuesday revealed a Grade 3 sprain.

Barney suffered the injury Monday night, scoring the only run of the game in the eighth inning against the Brewers.

He hobbled into the dugout, but the pain persisted into Tuesday.

“That’s the cause for concern,” he said. “It didn’t hurt too much when I (suffered) the injury. The next day, it was hurting.

“You’ve got to be careful with these. It’s just one of those things that if you don’t take care of it, it might get worse.”

Barney and the Cubs are hoping he doesn’t need more than the 15 days for the knee to heal. Barney jarred his knee with a headfirst slide into the plate.

“I wasn’t planning on going headfirst,” he said. “You’re bearing down, you’re looking for a hole. I’m trying to score a run. That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to fight hard and do what it takes to help win ballgames. I wasn’t really thinking about repercussions or anything like that. I was searching for that hole. I found it, and I went for it.”

Manager Mike Quade started DJ LeMahieu at second base Wednesday. He said he would “mix and match” with LeMahieu, Jeff Baker and Blake DeWitt at second.

Sori’s back:Alfonso Soriano returned to the active list after spending time on the DL with a left-quadriceps injury. He was not in left field Wednesday because of the wet conditions. Soriano rehabbed at Class AAA Iowa, going 1-for-13. #147;I feel good,#148; he said. #147;Yesterday, I had a very good day. I scored from second. I tested my leg and felt good, 100 percent.#148;All right: Mike Quade stacked his lineup with right-handed hitters against Milwaukee lefty Chris Narveson. Jeff Baker, who was 22-for-44 against lefties coming in, homered in the first inning. Reed Johnson hit a 3-run homer in the fifth. Johnson entered the game 9-for-24 against lefties. Minor matters:The Cubs said outfielder Brad Snyder has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Class Iowa. He was designated for assignment June 11.