Worth noting

• Ellis (patella tendinitis) tested his left knee with some running in the outfield on Wednesday morning and later joined his teammates for infield work. Ellis, who is eligible to come off the disabled list on Friday, has been increasing the amount of baseball work he's done each day this week.

Though Matheny had earlier said Ellis would likely need to go out on a rehab assignment before returning, he noted on Wednesday that those Minor League at-bats may not be necessary.

"You just kind of watch and see what happens," Matheny said.

• Jay's start in right field was his first since the 2011 season, when he started 30 games at that position. His first two starts this year came in center field in place of Peter Bourjos.

• The Cubs have lined up their starters for the club's upcoming trip to St. Louis and will have Jeff Samardzija (0-1, 1.29 ERA) pitch on Friday, Carlos Villanueva (1-2, 4.26 ERA) on Saturday and Edwin Jackson (0-0, 1.69 ERA) on Sunday.

• Triple-A Memphis scored six times in the ninth inning on Tuesday to earn a 9-4 win over Omaha. Outfielder Randal Grichuk drove home the go-ahead run with a single and finished 2-for-5 in the game. Eric Fornataro earned the win after pitching two innings of scoreless relief.