MESA, Ariz. -- Padres starter Greg Maddux took a line drive off his thigh and had to leave the game Thursday against the Chicago Cubs.
The ball, hit by Derrek Lee in the first inning, left a bruise on Maddux's left thigh. Maddux recovered and threw Lee out, but left the game after only two innings. Maddux said he originally had been scheduled to throw "roughly 60 pitches." He gave up two hits and struck out one in his two innings. The Padres listed him as "day-to-day."
"I got hit on the leg, and the leg got a little stiff, and I came out," Maddux said. "It's one of those where, hey, if it's April or May, you stay in. But it's March, you come out. I'm just glad D-Lee didn't hit it too good. He got it off the end of the bat.
"This kind of sets you back a little bit. I don't think it'll set me back a whole lot, but we'll see next time out. I might have to maybe go at it a little bit longer my last start of spring. This is just a bruise. I'm fine. It's just one of those things where you feel pain where you're not accustomed to feeling it, and you might change your delivery a little bit."
The Cubs won the game over the Padres split squad 3-2.
Chicago manager Lou Piniella dropped leadoff man Alfonso Soriano to second in the lineup and led off with shortstop Ryan Theriot. In addition, right fielder Kosuke Fukudome dropped from second to fifth.
Although Piniella has voiced his displeasure with the Chicago offense this spring, he said the main reason for the move was to protect Soriano's legs, which gave him trouble last year with hamstring and quadriceps strains.
Piniella also stressed that the moves were experimental but that the Cubs would "go with this configuration for a while."
"We said we were going to try it," Piniella said. "We've got everybody playing today. Might as well get started with it today and see what it looks like."
Soriano has enjoyed his best success as a leadoff hitter.
"It's the first time I batted second in the big leagues," said Soriano, who was 1-for-3. "I didn't feel very comfortable. But it's the first at-bat. I will have to make a couple little adjustments batting second because I never batted second."
The game ended on Alex Cintron's two-out bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning. The hit scored Matt Murton.
Theriot began the bottom of the first against Maddux with a single. He stole second base but had to hold after Soriano grounded out to third. Lee followed with the comebacker off the left thigh of Maddux.
Jason Marquis started for the Cubs and went four innings, giving up two hits and no runs. He walked two and struck out two.
Notes
Cubs center fielder Felix Pie won't play until Sunday. Pie underwent an outpatient surgical procedure Monday to correct what the Cubs described as "testicular torsion." Originally, the Cubs had hoped Pie could play Friday or Saturday.