(Courtesy of The Sports Xchange)  Will Derrek Lee's inflamed wrist keep him out the rest of the season? And did he come back too early from a fractured wrist injury in the first place? Those are questions most Cubs fans are wondering in the wake of Lee heading to the disabled list Monday.

Lee injured the wrist on April 19 after colliding with Dodgers baserunner Rafael Furcal. He returned on June 25 after two rehab games with Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs definitely wanted him to participate in one more rehab game, but on June 25, he returned to the lineup after Tony Womack and Freddie Bynum suffered injuries the night before.

So did Lee come back too soon?

"That's easy to say now," Lee said. "You don't know until you try. X-rays showed it was well enough to play, so you play. Now you can say, 'Oh, yeah, it was too soon,' but you couldn't tell then."

Cubs manager Dusty Baker said it likely would be winter before Lee's wrist is 100 percent healthy. With the team's season already lost, some feel Lee should just rest it now and shut it down the rest of the way.

But he's not looking at it that way.

"I just want to play," he said. "We still have over two months to go, so if I can play in two weeks, I can play for two months."

REPLAY: Carlos Zambrano won his 11th game and hit his fourth homer of 2006 in an 8-6 victory over the Mets on Tuesday night at Shea Stadium.

The Cubs had an 8-5 lead heading into the ninth. Closer Ryan Dempster gave up a run and was in a bases-loaded jam when manager Dusty Baker brought in setup man Bob Howry, who coaxed Paul Lo Duca to pop out to end the game.

Aramis Ramirez and Phil Nevin also homered for the Cubs, who improved to 39-60 overall and 4-1 against the Mets.

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NOTES

 --SS Ronny Cedeno might be wearing down, as he entered Tuesday's action with a .248 average. With INFs Neifi Perez and Ryan Theriot on the bench, look for manager Dusty Baker to give Cedeno more days off than in the past to help recharge him.

--RHP Wade Miller threw 75 pitches in a five-inning simulated game at Shea Stadium on Tuesday night. He likely will head back on a rehab assignment Sunday. He last pitched for Class A Peoria before the All-Star break. Miller is recovering from shoulder surgery performed last September.

--RHP Kerry Wood visited a surgeon in New York and likely will visit another in California before deciding if he will have surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff or if he will let it heal on its own.

--RHP Greg Maddux had a blister on his big right toe Monday when he gave up seven runs in six innings in an 8-7 victory over the Mets -- his first win since June 9. He said the blister had no effect on his pitching and said he will make his next start against St. Louis on Saturday.

--OF Sammy Sosa, who is not officially retired, told the Chicago Tribune that he wants to return to baseball and would even consider coming back to the Cubs. That seems unlikely since he closed his Cubs career in 2004 by leaving the final game of the season early and without permission. That prompted the Cubs to deal him to Baltimore in February 2005.

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