Struggling reliever Shawn Camp was placed on the disabled list Wednesday for a sprained toe the team says he kept quiet for much of the past month.

"He got treatment for on Sunday to kind of start the process and just [aggravated] it, and the inflammation got too bad or whatever," he said. "I think for a while it's just been getting tough to push of the mound. We've got to give it time to settle down."

By the time Camp alerted team officials to the problem Sunday, it was too late to prevent reliever Michael Bowden from being designated for assignment to make roster room for Matt Garza. Had the club know sooner, and known the severity, Sveum said, Camp would have been put on the DL then, with Bowden staying with the club.

"That would have been the obvious move," he said. "We didn't know it was that extensive."

Camp, who gave up a decisive grand slam in Tuesday's loss to Pittsburgh, didn't indicate how significant the issue was even after Sunday as he tried to pitch through it, said Sveum, who suggested it could have contributed to Camp's decreased velocity and effectiveness.

Camp, who has a 7.56 ERA and three blown saves, could be in for a lengthy DL stay. He's been ordered to stay off the foot as much as possible to let the pain subside before resuming baseball activity.

And Camp, who left the team to return home for that part of the recovery, might need a minor-league rehab assignment after that, Sveum said.

With barely two weeks left before the Cubs make what could be the defining draft pick of this second-year regime, top front office officials are gathering the final - and finest details - on the few players they're considering for the No. 2 overall selection on June 6.

Team president Theo Epstein, general manager Jed Hoyer, top scouting/player development executive Jason McLeod and amateur scouting director Jaron Madison are in Oklahoma City today to meet with Oklahoma right-hander Jonathan Gray - one of the top two pitchers in the draft.

The Big-12 tournament opens in Oklahoma City Thursday.

The 6-4, 239-pound Gray is the more powerful of the draft's top pair of pitchers, but Stanford right-hander Mark Appel - a senior who refused to sign after being drafted eighth overall a year ago - is considered the more refined pitcher.

Barring unforeseen issues arising with either pitcher in the next two weeks, the Cubs are expected to take whichever pitcher the Houston Astros do not take with the No. 1 overall pick.

Given the dearth of potential impact pitchers in the Cubs' system and the diminishing means of acquiring free agent talent in the current baseball economy, this Cubs' pick could have a disproportionate impact on the team's rebuilding effort.

Appel, who's represented by Scott Boras, rejected a $3.8 million offer by the Pittsburgh Pirates last year after falling to eighth following several draft projections that had him going No. 1 overall.

The Cubs have $10.56 allotted by MLB for draft bonuses to their top 10 picks, with more than half of that slotted for their top pick.

Teams can exceed their overall "budget" by 5 percent before losing future draft picks as penalties.

PITTSBURGH - So what's wrong with Shawn Camp?

The right-handed reliever manager Dale Sveum considered one of his team MVPs last year - a guy whose 80 appearances was tied for the major league lead - has lost velocity since then and has struggled more than anyone still toiling in the Cubs' beleaguered bullpen.

On this night, Camp's hanging changeup was the biggest bullpen culprit in ruining Matt Garza's impressive return from the disabled list - with pinch-hitter Travis Snider clobbering it for the game-changing grand slam in a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh.

He was the third reliever in a five-run Pirates' sixth after Garza handed the pen a 3-0 lead following five scoreless, one-hit innings.

It was the Cubs' 10th blown save already this season. Camp has three of them - to go with a 7.56 ERA that's more than twice as high as last year's ERA.

"It's hard to pin-point," Sveum said of Camp's struggles this year compared to last. "First and foremost when guy like that loses 2-3 mph on his fastball, everything else is a little short. That's where we are."

Camp, whose 2012 success earned him a $1.35 million deal this year, said his velocity's no different.

"The ball was just up. It was just up," he said. "That happens. I've just got to work down."

Said Sveum: "He's having trouble getting the balls up to 87 mph right now. So the spin on the slider's going to be less, the arm speed on the slider's going to be less. Everything's a little short right now."

After dismissing the velocity issue, Camp was asked whether he's having problems with his changeup and snapped at the reporter - "that's irrelevant."

"Sometimes you go in these ruts, and you just have to get your way out of them," said Camp, whose struggles might be magnified with the larger issues of a bullpen that has been a key weakness for the club so far. "I really don't know what to say about it. It was just, [if I] get the guy out in front of it, and he pops it up, nobody's talking about it."

He may not believe he's pitching for a contract, but Opening Day starter Jeff Samardzija showed again Wednesday why the Cubs' front office considers him as much a core piece of its big plans as long-term-deal guys Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo.

Two days after Rizzo's seven-year $41 million deal was announced, Samardzija had his best start since the opener, pitching eight powerful innings to beat the Colorado Rockies 6-3 - and lift the Cubs out of last and into a fourth-place tie with Milwaukee in the N.L. Central.

The Cubs have put Samardzija at the top of their list for a contract extension, but got little traction in talks last fall. Samardzija says he'd rather prove he's as good as he and the club thinks he is, and then talk deal.

Ready to talk now?

"Absolutely not," he said. "Nope. This is a great team, really coming around right now, playing great baseball. I'm just really looking to keep this going. It's fun to play with these guys."

It took a month, but the Cubs finally shed the last-place label they've been wearing most of the season.

Their 6-3 victory Wednesday night over the Colorado Rockies behind eight powerful innings from Opening Day starter Jeff Samardzija lifted them into a tie for fourth place in the National League Central with the Milwaukee Brewers - who lost Wednesday to Pittsburgh.

"It's a good feeling," said new millionaire Anthony Rizzo, whose second hit drove in a run during the Cubs' three-run seventh.

Whether they can keep up this mini surge long enough to keep the team intact through the trading deadline is anything but certain. But a 6-3 stretch that includes back-to-back series victories for the first time since Sept. 7-12 has players talking about "excitement" and "energy" and "momentum."

Samardzija pointed to "big confidence builders" like the Cubs' one-run comeback win in Washington Sunday.

"This game's a lot about confidence, a lot about how you feel out there on the field, and you make your own breaks," he said.

Samardzija (2-6) lived the words during his best start since the season opener, pitching an efficient eight innings to snap a personal seven-start winless streak.

Making his own breaks?

Samardzija hit his first homer in four years with Darwin Barney on second base in the second inning to give the Cubs an early 2-1 lead, and they never trailed again.

"That was huge at the time," manager Dale Sveum said.

Samardzija brushed it off as "luck."

"I need to slow down around the bases and enjoy it a little bit," he said. "It doesn't happen too often."

He's not the only one hitting lately. A Cubs lineup that ranked near the bottom in the majors in most hitting categories through April has averaged 5.2 runs per game during their nine-game run, scoring six or more four times.

A lot of that might be Rizzo, the No. 3 hitter who has been on a personal tear in his last 19 games: .392 with nine doubles, three homers and 16 RBIs.

The difference? "Maybe the contract, I don't know," he said with a laugh.

Whether the $41-million family security his new deal assures, or the more simplified approach he's taking at the plate, it seems to be having a contagious effect.

"I say this on every team, I feel like wherever I hit, if I hit we go," he said. "That's the pressure I put on myself, to hit well. But it's very contagious. ..."

David DeJesus led off the game with a homer for the Cubs, who scored three times in the seventh, sending seven men to the plate, to break open a close game.

As for Rizzo, he said the whirlwind surrounding his new contract had finally calmed some by Wednesday.

"It's been crazy," he said. "A lot of interviews, being pulled in different ways. But I've got a lot of support from friends, family, coaches, all congratulating me, and I'm very thankful. It was nice today, just an under-the-radar day. I just came to the park and got ready to play."

The realities of living in an age where social media often blurs with news media hit literally at home for Carlos Marmol on Wednesday, when a casual meeting with his agents at his condo building turned into brief media firestorm hours later.

Marmol was caught off guard when asked to respond to comments published on a Cubs-related blog after someone claiming to be Marmol's neighbor admittedly eavesdropped on the meeting -- in a community lounge space -- and forwarded pictures and quotes to the blog.

The "neighbor" claimed the meeting was about efforts by the agents to get Marmol traded to get their client a clean start, and added that Marmol said he "can't wait" to get out of Chicago.

Never mind the fact the Cubs have tried and failed for more than a year to find a taker for Marmol - turning down the best chance they had when the Los Angeles Angels were willing to send $15.5-million pitcher Dan Haren for Marmol, if the Cubs paid all but $3.5 million of Marmol's $9.8 million salary.

Marmol said Wednesday's meeting was a routine visit, wasn't about baseball business, and he emphatically denied the comment the "neighbor" claimed he made.

"It's not true," said Marmol, who can be difficult to understand in English even when the context is clear and when not eavesdropping. "I don't want to go anywhere. I can't wait for [the Cubs] to do something so I can stay here. I love Chicago. I love being here. I love my teammates. I love everybody here. ...

"I feel bad, because this is not true. ... That did not come out of my mouth."

Marmol said one of the people he was with noticed somebody across the room taking pictures, but the group shrugged it off. He said he feels now he was being spied on.

"I don't know who's that guy or why he tweeted that," Marmol said. "It's kind of a joke. ... I don't know what to say."

The cost containment the Cubs gained in potentially club-friendly, long-term deals with Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo in the last nine months could allow them to be more aggressive in building a competitive pitching staff.

How soon? Matt Garza and Travis Wood could be big parts of answering that question.

In Garza's case, it's about whether he returns to form this month after being sidelined by a pair of injuries since last July, and how much his side's willing to give this time around, considering the injuries since an extension was last discussed more than a year ago.

The Cubs don't have any talks with Garza planned at this point.

But Garza, who makes what could be a final minor-league rehab start Wednesday, welcomes the idea.

"It'd be awesome," he said. "But like I said in January, February, March and April, I need to pitch. I can't talk about anything except the next time I get to pitch. I can't do anything. There's no conversations about anything like that - it's just, `how close are you?'

Without the $10.25-million Garza, the Cubs had the third-ranked rotation ERA in the National League through Monday, with short-term starter Scott Feldman and fill-in swingman Carlos Villanueva in the starting five.

Opening Day starter Jeff Samardzija, a priority candidate for contract talks, and $52-million free agent Edwin Jackson already are in the long-term plans.

And the only question with the 26-year-old Wood is whether his rotation-leading start to the season is the sign of longer term success manager Dale Sveum suggested after another impressive start Monday.

"As far as I'm concerned, he's put himself there," Sveum said. "With what he's done since spring training, and over some 30 starts since last year, it's impressive."

Over his last 31 starts, including eight this season, the left-hander is 10-14 with a 3.50 ERA, 192 2/3 innings and 21 quality starts.

"I'd love to be here for a long time with the Cubs," said Wood (4-2, 2.03), "but that's out of my hands."

Cubs manager Dale Sveum said before Tuesday's 9-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies that he wasn't running "tryout camps" for his starting pitchers as the Cubs near decision time on which starter gets bumped out for the imminent return of Matt Garza.

Maybe that's because Carlos Villanueva already was the likely odd man out by virtue of his wealth of experience as a valuable bullpen pitcher - along with the relative commitments to the four other pitchers now in the rotation.

And if it was a tryout situation? Villanueva (1-3) wouldn't figure to make the cut after his worst outing of the season Tuesday, getting pounded for seven runs on 12 hits, including a pair of home runs, in just five innings.

The Cubs' rotation had the third-ranked ERA in the National League (3.40) going into the night.

"The guys are doing great," said Garza (lat strain), who makes what could be his final minor-league rehab start Thursday for AAA Iowa. "That's definitely something that I've got to really step into and gear up for."

Tough call on who gets bumped for him?

"Well, I guess that's the best problem to have," Garza said, "because I want to pitch. I'm not getting ready for no reason. ... I'm just excited to come back."

Villanueva already was going through a rough stretch after four exceptional outings to start the season. He had a 1.53 ERA through those four starts - but he's 0-3 with a 6.94 ERA since.

The loss snapped the Cubs' season-high three-game winning streak.

WASHINGTON - After spending much of the weekend talking about the rise of the Washington Nationals as a role model for their own rebuilding process, the Cubs showed an even more aggressive approach than the Nats took.

Sources confirmed Sunday night that the team has reached agreement with building-block first-baseman Anthony Rizzo on a seven-year, $41-million contract extension plus two option years that could bring the total value to around $70 million.

The deal comes only nine months after the club extended All-Star shortstop Starlin Castro for seven years, $60 million - and underscores the different landscape in acquiring and locking up players that has emerged even since Washington went from worst to first in a three-year span that culminated with last year's 98-win season and playoff berth.

It's a rare commitment for a player with the service time of the power-hitting Rizzo, who has yet to play a full season in the big leagues.

It's also a potential bargain if the Cubs are right about a player who - less than a month ago - was called out by the manager as being a candidate for demotion to the minors.

"I don't think [anyone's] invincible if you're not performing," manager Dale Sveum said April 21 when asked about the status - and recent mistakes - of Castro and Rizzo. "It's not about what we think can happen three or four years from now. It's time to perform on a consistent basis."

Rizzo was hitting .210 at the time with more strikeouts (18) than hits (13).

Even after going hitless in Sunday's 2-1 victory over Washington, he was up to .280 and led the team with nine homers and 28 RBIs. He had an .890 OPS.

"He's just getting more comfortable," Sveum said in the days leading up to finalizing the new contract. "

Still in desperate search for the long-term pitching depth that's expected to signal the competitive turnaround for a club working on its fourth straight losing season, the Cubs at least have seemed to secure a position-player base that also includes top prospect Javy Baez, a power-hitting infielder, and high-upside catcher Welington Castillo.

Second baseman Darwin Barney and outfield prospects Jorge Soler and Albert Almora are also expected to be part of the core if the Cubs can find enough pitching depth to compete within the next two or three years.

The Cubs have targeted Opening Day starter Jeff Samardzija for a contract extension - with Samardzija reluctant to give a hometown discount.

Assuring some payroll predictability with Castro and Rizzo under long-term deals, that could pave the way for renewed - and possibly more substantive talks - with Samardzija before next season.

Third baseman Luis Valbuena left Saturday's game against the Nationals in the fifth inning after jamming his right pinkie on Ryan Zimmerman's foot sliding into third.

X-rays were negative, and Sveum said he expected Valbuena to be able to pinch-hit Sunday. But he said he's not ruling out the disabled list.

"It's his throwing hand, so it's going to be a little bit tough to throw for a couple days," Sveum said, "but he'll definitely, probably be able to swing the bat."

WASHINGTON - It's been nearly 10 months since Matt Garza threw a pitch in a major-league game, but the right-hander's presence is starting to be felt on the Cubs' pitching staff like faint breathing at the back of the neck.

Garza (lat strain) had another strong minor-league rehab outing Saturday, throwing 66 pitches in 3 1/3 scoreless innings for Class AA Tennessee, and after probably two more starts at AAA Iowa, he could be ready to return from the disabled list.

Which starter from one of the league's top rotations gets bumped to the bullpen?

Even before Edwin Jackson earned his first victory of the season, manager Dale Sveum reiterated that the worst-performing starter of the early season was exempt.

Sveum said a six-man rotation is out of the question, and when he also exempted Opening Day starter Jeff Samardzija and high-performance lefty Travis Wood, it left Scott Feldman (3-3, 2.70) and Carlos Villanueva (1-2, 3.02) dangling.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Sveum said. "It's a nice problem to have. But it's getting close to that date, and it's not a cut-and-dried situation."

WASHINGTON -- Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said Saturday that he hopes exiled third baseman Ian Stewart has a future in the organization, but the club's actions belie Hoyer's assertion.

Stewart hasn't started a game for Class AAA Iowa since being passed through waivers nearly a week ago. And if he doesn't play, he can't be shopped nor earn a promotion.

"We've been patient with Ian for a year, and a month and a half, and Ian's got to be patient with us at some point," Hoyer said of the third baseman, who lasted just 55 games (.201, five homers) last year before a wrist injury sidelined him and eventually required season-ending surgery.

After the Cubs released him and re-signed him for $2 million in the off-season, Stewart had his spring training wiped out by a quad strain suffered in February. And a minor-league rehab stint in Iowa ran out before he showed he was anything close to being ready.

Stewart then was optioned to Iowa, ticked off the club by using his union rights to take three days away from the team before reporting, and was placed on waivers. The 29 other clubs passed on him, and he has two pinch-hit at-bats since.

"We've got to get [third baseman Josh] Vitters at-bats," Hoyer said of the .219-hitting Vitters who was playing in the outfield before the Stewart drama unfolded. "And we will play Vitters in the outfield, some, too. Not allowing Vitters to play third base is a disservice to him as well."

At the big-league level, third-baseman Luis Valbuena had as many home runs in six weeks as Stewart did all last season and took an .861 OPS into Saturday's game against the Washington Nationals.

Asked whether there is a future for the long-buried Stewart with the organization, Hoyer said:

"I'm not sure. It's a really good question. I hope there is. I hope he starts playing well. I do think there's a lot of talent there. It's been sort of an unfortunate run for us with the injuries. A left-handed hitter with power who plays good defense - I hope there's a future with him here. But at this point it's going to be about performance. Potential can only take you so far, and at some point you have to perform."