cheap jordan shoes-AS Roma routs Zaglebie Lubin in friendly at Wrigley

AS Roma seemed to feel right at home in Wrigley Field's friendly confines Sunday.

The Italian side piled up four first-half goals and dominated Zaglebie Lubin most of the way in a 4-0 victory that marked the return of soccer to the landmark ballpark after an absence of nearly 28 years.

But Roma manager Zdenek Zeman said his team — making its first stop in a three-city U.S. tour — could have played much better.

"I'm not very happy with the game we played," Zeman said. "We were good enough to convert the first three chances that we had, but as far as the game is concerned, I'm not very satisfied."

The Friendly at the Confines international soccer clash drew an announced crowd of 22,181, including vocal partisans on both sides.

Roma forward Pablo Daniel Osvaldo scored in the first minute and three teammates added separate goals over the next 42 minutes in an effort the Polish side couldn't match.

Osvaldo, Roma's 2011-12 scoring leader with 11 goals, took a short cross from Bojan Krkic and punched a short shot past Zaglebie Lubin goalie Marek Koziol, making his debut with the Polish squad's first team.

Midfielder Panagiotis Tachtsidis added a tally 17 minutes later after a steal as he looped a long shot over Koziol. Forward Erik Lamela made it 3-0 in the 30th minute, assisted by midfielder Miralem Pjanic and Michael Bradley.

Krkic added a goal to his production in the 43rd minute with a short shot angled to Koziol's right.

Team captain Francesco Totti, a second-half substitute, had an open look in the 69th minute but his shot hit the right post.

Bradley, the U.S. national team veteran and newest Roma acquisition, was in the starting lineup and played until the 67th minute.

"He played well," Zeman said . "He knows Italian football and that helped the team a lot."

Zaglebie Lubin had several near-miss opportunities and others were handled by veteran Roma goalie Maarten Stekelenburg, who recorded seven saves.

Stekelenburg said the Wrigley Field turf, including an infield converted to grass, felt dry and uneven.

"I have played on better fields," he said. "(But) it was nice, a lot of people came to this game and it was a nice day."

air jordan shoes-Garza feeling better, doesn't think he'll need trip to DL

ST. LOUIS — Matt Garza felt much better Sunday morning after suffering from triceps cramping and being forced to leave Saturday's game.

Garza said it was unrelated to the bone contusion injury he had near his elbow that sidelined him in May and early June 2011.

"I think it's just a cramp that's stiff, just a stiff muscle," he said. "I have better movement today than I did yesterday, so that's positive. I can move it today, unlike (Saturday), so that's a huge plus."

Garza doesn't think he'll have to go on the disabled list. Manager Dale Sveum said he might be able to give Garza more time to heal by rearranging the rotation. An off day on Thursday provides Sveum the opportunity to do so.

"He did seem to come in in a lot better frame of mind, and I'm very optimistic he won't have to be on the DL or even (miss) his next start," Sveum said, adding they'd know more by Monday.

Garza isn't scheduled to pitch again until Friday against the Cardinals. The Cubs could move Travis Wood into that slot on his normal four days' rest. If the Cubs need another starter due to a trade or loss of Garza, Sveum said Justin Germano would probably get the nod over Iowa's Chris Volstad and Casey Coleman.

Roller-coaster ride: After coming into the series with the best record in baseball over their previous 19 games (14-5), the Cubs were trounced by the Cardinals.

"To score one run, and they scored (23), it was tough because we were playing well," Sveum said. "Guys were swinging the bats better and getting bigger hits. We had only two extra-base hits the whole series, let alone not getting any big hits when we had opportunities."

The Cubs went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position in the series.

Extra innings: The Cubs called up left-hander Jeff Beliveau from Triple-A Iowa to bolster the bullpen, and optioned Rafael Dolis to Iowa. Dolis was 2-4 with a 6.44 ERA. Beliveau pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his major league debut. … The Cubs' 38-56 record is the same as it was under Mike Quade one year ago.

buy jordan-Cubs don't play like superheroes, but dress the part

ST. LOUIS — To honor Cubs great Ron Santo on his Hall of Fame induction day, manager Dale Sveum asked his position players to click their heels as they crossed the foul line to take their spots Sunday.

"It was downhill after that," Sveum said.

While Santo was being feted in Cooperstown, the Cubs were enduring another lost weekend at Busch Stadium.

They lost 7-0 to the Cardinals, were outscored 23-1 in the series and were 3-for-29 (.077) with runners on base.

Travis Wood (4-5) put the game out of reach early, giving up four runs in the first inning and home runs on back-to-back pitches to Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran to start the fifth.

"They were pitches I thought were where they needed to be," Wood said.

Apparently not, since they traveled a combined 837 feet.

The rest of the day was just an exercise in futility but ended in levity when the players donned costumes of their favorite superheroes for the plane ride to Pittsburgh.

It was idea conceived by Matt Garza in spring training for the sake of team bonding. Even Sveum got into the act, dressing up as the "Hellboy" character from the movie.

"It's something guys kind of look forward to and talk about, break up the monotony," Sveum said.

Alfonso Soriano, who like Garza wore a Batman outfit, was the only one to admit he was "not happy" about having to get dressed up after losing in such brutal fashion. Pitching coach Chris Bosio also abstained, while Reed Johnson and Jeff Baker were the most creative of the bunch, dressing like Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein, respectively.

Both walked with cellphones glued to their ears, as the Cubs executives tend to do.

In truth, the Cubs don't have a particularly good record on dress-up day, which traditionally is a rookie hazing thing. Most laugh about it, but it's hard to do after a tough loss

In 2006 in Cincinnati, when manager Dusty Baker and most of his staff were about to be let go, Santo fumed in Baker's office as players donned their costumes moments after Scott Eyre blew a save.

After a loss to Milwaukee in 2009 at Wrigley, manager Lou Piniella blew off a postgame press briefing, and Milton Bradley had a contentious session with the media while Sam Fuld dressed up as Wonder Woman a few feet away.

On Mike Quade's last road trip in 2011, after Randy Wells blew a late lead in a loss to the Cardinals, one player was peeved over a politically incorrect costume he was forced to wear.

Garza said the Cubs' superhero day was postponed once before to give players more time to get costumes. Anthony Rizzo was Buzz Lightyear, Tony Campana was the Flash, and Jeff Samardzija appeared to be Jesus.

Garza said he thought of the idea while watching "The Avengers" with his son. They had a similar costume trip when he was with the Rays, which Garza called "style dress-ups" where the team dressed all in white, or as "intellectuals."

"Guys let it loose, have a little fun," Garza said. "Take a little bit of pressure off. A little bit of embarrassment goes a long way. Gets you out of your own skin a little bit."