Zack Cozart Back to Face His Friend Travis Wood

Zack Cozart was surprised his fingers didn't swell up worse than they did.

The Reds shortstop had the fingers on his right hand pinned against the bat while trying to bunt on Saturday.

On Sunday they felt so good that he asked the trainer, Paul Lessard, if he could throw.  Dusty Baker told Cozart the story of former Dodger teammate Bill Russel, who had his fingers broken trying to bunt  and was never the same.

"Paul and Steve (Bauman) did a good job of getting me ready," Cozart said.  "When it first happened I thought they were broken.  After I found out they weren't broken Dusty told me the story and that it brought back flashbacks."

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Cozart will wear padding under his batting club to absorb shock from his bat.

Baker also quipped that Cozart wanted to face his friend and former minor league teammate, Travis Wood, who will be the Cubs starter.

"You don't want your friends to be able to say that you're ducking them," Baker said.

Baker would never miss J.R Richard although he had trouble hitting him.

"It's always cool to play against your old teammates and friends," Cozart said.  "We played in Double-A together and hung out a lot."

Cozart's and Wood's wives are friends.

"My wife texted me today and asked if I was going to be able to play against him," Cozart said.

Cubs' manager Dale Sveum is pleased with how Wood has progressed since the Cubs acquired the left-hander from the Reds in exchange for Sean Marshall.  Cubs' backup outfielder, Dave Sappelt, was also part of that trade.  Wood and Reds' starter Mike Leake competed for the final spot in the rotation in 2010.  It is one of those baseball ironies that they face each other tonight.

"Wood was the victim a couple times last year of the wind blowing out at 30 miles an hour last year," Sveum said.

Last year Wood made 26 starts and was 3-3 with a 4.27 ERA.  He allowed 25 home runs.

"He gave up a lot of home runs in those starts and if you take them out, he probably had an ERA around three.  He could always pitch inside.  Now he has learned to hit the corners on his arm side," Sveum said.

This season Wood is 1-1 with an ERA of 1.83 and hasn't allowed a home run in his 19 2/3 innings.  He has pitched at least six innings in every one of his starts.

"Travis is pitching well," Cozart said.  "Hopefully, we can score some runs off him.  It is cool and weird at the same time.  We have to put good at-bats together.  He has good stuff and knows how to pitch."

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