ATHLETICS (ss) 5, CUBS (ss) 2
at Mesa, Ariz.
Wednesday, March 19

Athletics at the plate: Kurt Suzuki doubled with two outs in the sixth, but was thrown out at home by right fielder Kosuke Fukudome trying to score on Daric Barton's single. The A's loaded the bases against Kevin Hart in the eighth, and he walked Eduardo Cornejo to force in a run, and Carlos Marmol walked Archie Gilbert to force in another to tie the game. Corey Brown then hit a tiebreaking RBI single.

Cubs at the plate: Derrek Lee, who entered the game hitting .154 this spring, greeted Andrew Brown with his first homer, launching a 1-1 pitch to right leading off the seventh. Henry Blanco added an RBI double in the seventh. Ryan Theriot had two hits, including a triple with two outs in the sixth.

Athletics on the mound: Joe Blanton gave up four hits and struck out five over six scoreless innings in his fourth start. Brown gave up two runs on two hits and one walk over one inning.

Cubs on the mound: Ryan Dempster, fighting for a spot in the rotation, struck out seven and gave up one hit and two walks over 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Sean Gallagher walked three batters to load the bases, but Les Walrond got out of the jam by striking out two.

Cactus League records: Athletics 16-6; Cubs 8-13

Cubs up next: The Cubs play host to the Colorado Rockies on Thursday at HoHoKam Park. Rich Hill is slated to start for Chicago, making his third start and fifth spring appearance. The lefty has struggled in recent outings, and so far has given up eight earned runs on 14 hits and eight walks over 11 1/3 innings. If possible, Kerry Wood will throw one inning in relief. He was scheduled to go Wednesday but was scratched because of back spasms.

Athletics up next: The A's will leave for Tokyo following Wednesday's games, and play exhibition games against the Yomiuri Giants on Saturday and the Hanshin Tigers the next day before opening the regular season March 24 against the Boston Red Sox at the Tokyo Dome.