Cubs
Forbes declares Cubs “Baseball’s Next Powerhouse,” using “Rangers blueprint.” Uh, Rangers never have won Series. … RHP Pedro Strop (groin) is expected to start rehabbing at extended spring training in Arizona soon.
Brewers
Sale of company that sponsors sausage race not expected to affect Miller Park’s favorite in-game diversion. … Lyle Overbay, a career first baseman, came off the bench to pitch vs. the Braves. The 37-year-old pitched for the first time in his 1,497 major league games. … RHP Jim Henderson (right shoulder inflammation) threw about 25 pitches in a bullpen session and reported no pain. … The tentative plan is for RHP Jim Henderson (shoulder) is to make three outing in the minors so he can go multiple innings as a long reliever for Milwaukee.
Cardinals
Adam Wainwright has 106 victories with St. Louis, tied with eighth on the career list with Slim Salee. Wainwright had his first career one-hitter and the first time in eight career shutouts that he faced fewer than 30 batters. “This how I felt coming out of spring training,” Wainwright told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “That was exactly what I felt I could do. The thing I did better (Tuesday) than maybe I’ve ever done is I kept my body under control better than ever. I never felt my body flying open. I never followed through, out of whack.”
Pirates
The Pirates’ streak of the leadoff batter reaching in eight straight games ended. … The team’s top prospect, Gregory Polanco, now playing for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, is set to become the next big thing, according to Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV Sports. “He’s the most natural star in the making that I’ve ever watched in the minor leagues,” says Indians broadcaster Will Flemming. Polanco is leading the International League in hitting by nearly 40 points, with an average just shy of .400.
Reds
RHP Mat Latos (left knee, right elbow) threw the equivalent of two innings in a simulated game. … Johnny Cueto had a rough outing in last start. His final line: 5 1-3 innings, six hits, eight runs (six earned), six strikeouts. He hit the two batters in the seven-run sixth. It was Cueto’s shortest start since Sept. 16, 2013, and his most runs allowed since Sept. 22, 2010. His ERA rose from 1.25 to 1.86. Manager Bryan Price: “He wasn’t just the groundball machine, strikeout machine that he’s been to this point. It’s just the law of averages caught up with us today.”
Compiled by Rick Crotts from wire reports.
