SAN DIEGO -- Sammy Sosa felt a bit sheepish while explaining why he wasn't able to play Sunday against the Padres.
Sosa sneezed twice shortly after arriving in the clubhouse before the game, which brought on back spasms and forced him to grab a chair to support himself. While his Cubs teammates were out beating the Padres 4-2 for a three-game sweep, Sosa spent the afternoon in the trainer's room receiving treatment.
"It would have been better if I had hit off the wall or we have
a fight or something, but this ... you know what I mean?" Sosa
said. "What can you do? Some things in life you cannot control.
This is strange that it happened."
The Cubs are off Monday before opening a homestand Tuesday.
"I don't feel too good," Sosa said. "If I'm ready, I'm going
to play. If I'm not ready, I'm not going to play. Whenever I feel
100 percent, I'll be back.
"Something you never expect to happen, happens. We're only
human. The only thing you can do is just sit back and relax and
wait. You're talking about the back."
Sosa, who has 10 homers this season, homered Friday and Saturday to move past Mike Schmidt and take sole possession of ninth place on the career list with 549.