"First baseman Derrek Lee said early today that he'll take the day off from hitting live pitching after waking up with some soreness in his surgically-repaired thumb. That's not great news, but he said that he has had to battle through some soreness after every advancement in his rehabilitation.

"It's a little tender,'' he said, "but that's probably to be expected. Overly cautious. I was hoping I would wake up feeling 100 percent, but I kind of knew I'd wake up sore. When I first did soft toss, the next day it was sore. Every step has been like that, so I'm not going to try and fight through it. Just come back tomorrow.""