0-for-2: Cubs' bus breaks down, and they lose to Rockies

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Cubs figured it was going to be a long day when their bus broke down on the side of the highway heading to Hi Corbett Field.

Turns out, the rest of the afternoon was rather short.

The adventurous 31/2-hour bus ride down from Mesa took way longer than the actual exhibition game. The Colorado Rockies needed just more than two hours - warp speed by Cactus League standards - to beat the Cubs 5-2 on Monday.

Starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano caught a break - his cousin was following the bus in a car, so they drove with catcher Koyie Hill to the park. Zambrano had plenty of time to relax, unwind and warm up while his teammates waited for the bus to be fixed.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella wasn't with the team on the bus. He was driving separately with pitching coach Larry Rothschild as the two talked a little shop, discussing the pitching staff.

Any revelations?

"We made some plans on pitching," Piniella said. "Told him basically some of the kids I would like to see a little more of. He's very organized - fine tune it a little bit."

About an hour later than expected, the team came sauntering onto the field - much to Zambrano's delight.

"Thank (goodness) that the bus came on and we played this game," Zambrano said. "We need every game in spring training to be ready."

With the wind briskly blowing out, Zambrano felt as though he was back home at Wrigley Field. He gave up 4 doubles, including 1 by Carlos Gonzalez that the right-hander figured Sam Fuld was surely going to catch, only to have the ball bounce high off the wall in center.

"I saw Sammy going back and back, and (was like), 'This ball is going out,' " Zambrano said.

Zambrano threw 43 pitches in his third outing of the spring, allowing 1 run in 4 innings. That was better than his previous outing, when he yielded 5 runs over 3 innings.

On this day, though, Zambrano had his sinker working.

"Brandon Webb-style," he said, alluding to the Arizona Diamondbacks ace who is renowned for the pitch. "My sinker was great today. I was able to command my pitches and get out of some situations."

Zambrano also helped himself at the plate with an RBI double.

"Lucky," he shrugged.