By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Monday's game

Sammy Sosa sat in front of his locker dressed in his Chicago Cubs uniform on Monday afternoon wearing a big smile, but not talking to reporters.

With just two days left on his seven-day suspension for using a corked bat, Sosa rejoined the club Monday at Great American Ball Park after a three-day absence.

Sharon Pannozzo, the Cubs' media relations director, said before the Reds-Cubs game that Sosa would not talk to reporters about the June 3 bat-corking incident or anything else.

Sosa, who's hitting .290 with six home runs and 27 runs batted in, took batting practice with his teammates and was cheered by fans.

He's expected to return to the lineup Wednesday night against the Reds. The Cubs have scheduled a Sosa press conference for this afternoon.

"He said he hit and hit and hit and ran and threw," said Cubs manager Dusty Baker, when asked how Sosa has spent his time away from the team. "He's probably in better shape now than when he left. He had more time to work on things."

Sosa left the club on Thursday in Baltimore and did not accompany it to Toronto. Without Sosa, the NL Central-leading Cubs are 3-3 after Monday night's victory over the Reds.

"We've done pretty well, but we're not crazy about the situation," Baker said. "We'd rather not have to go through this again. Everyone else is doing their thing. Nobody is feeling sorry for us.

"We realize Sammy is not here. We can't do anything about a guy who's not here. We feel bad he's not here, but you can't dwell on it."

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com