(Courtesy of The Sports Xchange)  Relief pitcher Scott Williamson's undoing in the eighth inning of the Cubs' 7-5 loss to Florida on Wednesday was aided when first base umpire Bruce Froemming called a balk on him.

Williamson had picked off pinch runner Eric Reed, but the balk was called. Instead of one out, there were no outs and a runner at second. Williamson walked two more batters, uncorked a wild pitch and eventually gave up three runs.

"It's ridiculous," said Williamson. "When you pick a guy off nowadays, they call balks. It screws up a whole inning for a guy. You walk a guy on some questionable calls there -- the guy (home plate umpire Paul Emmel) had a tight zone. You luckily get the guy picked off and change the inning, and the guy calls a balk. And he doesn't want to talk to you about it.

"I expect a little more from Bruce from being around the league that long. I've been around him before, and he's a great guy. But at least tell me what's going on. I wasn't there to argue. But he told me to get the (deleted) back to the mound. To me that's uncalled for."

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NOTES

  --RHP Greg Maddux is off to the best start in his career (4-0, 0.99 ERA in four starts), and some wonder how long this hot streak will last. Maddux, 40, showed up to camp in better shape but doesn't talk about what he did during the offseason. Before the season started, he said that he probably couldn't win a Cy Young Award anymore but could still win 15-20 games. Maddux will be looking for his fifth straight victory when the Cubs are home against Milwaukee on Friday.

--C Michael Barrett, who is "day-to-day" with a sprained left middle finger, said he jammed the finger with a headfirst slide into second base in Tuesday night's game against Florida. "I hate to say that I'll never do it again -- never say never -- but I will think twice before trying a headfirst slide," Barrett said. He said the finger hurts more when he is catching than hitting.

--INF/OF John Mabry is the team's "emergency" catcher even though he has never played a major league game at that position and has not practiced behind the plate. Michael Barrett is "day-to-day" with a finger injury, and if something happens with backup Henry Blanco, Mabry would be the man.

--RHP Kerry Wood (shoulder and knee surgery) was throwing in the mid-90 mph range when he threw three innings against Rookie League players in Arizona. Now that the velocity is up, he will work on building up his endurance. The Cubs would like him to be able to throw 80 or more pitches before he is ready for major league action.

--LHP Scott Eyre gave up his first earned run on Wednesday against Florida after making seven appearances and pitching 9 2/3 innings without allowing one.

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