MESA—Randy Wells gave up his first earned runs of the spring in a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies before 10,246 fans at HoHoKam Stadium, but did a good job of pitching out of trouble – one of the few times he has had to pitch out of the stretch this spring.Wells (1-1, 1.29 ERA) went five innings, allowing three runs – two earned – on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk.After cruising through three innings to push his string to 12 innings without giving up an earned run, Carlos Gonzalez reached on a dribbler in front of the plate when Wells couldn’t get the ball out of his glove. After going to third on Jose Lopez’s single to right, Gonzalez scored on a sacrifice fly by Todd Helton.Then in the fifth his defense had a hand in it after a walk and single put runners on first and second. The runners advanced on a double steal when Colorado catcher Chris Iannetta stole third as Cubs catcher Geovany Soto threw behind him. Hernan Iribarren advanced to second on the throw to third.Pitcher Esmil Rogers followed with a sacrifice fly to left field with one out. Alfonso Soriano’s throw to the plate was wild and allowed both runners to score.Wells talked about how last year he had some confidence problems and that veteran catcher Koyie Hill talked to him about body language.Cubs second baseman Blake DeWitt, acquired last season in the Ted Lilly trade, continues to flounder in his battle with Jeff Baker, who went 1 for 2 with a walk against Oakland. DeWitt, who is hitting .176, didn’t get a ball out of the infield in four at-bats and also had his third error of the spring – a throwing error to first base.Rockies starter Esmil Rogers (1-0, 3.86 ERA) was impressive in trying to lock down the fifth spot in the rotation with Aaron Cook (shoulder tightness, ring finger) ailing.The right-hander allowed one hit and struck out three in his five innings. The only hit was by Carlos Pena, who was thrown out by left-fielder Carlos Gonzalez at second by 15 feet trying to stretch a single into a double.

PHOENIX—Brett Jackson, Tyler Colvin and Welington Castillo each homered to lead the split-squad Cubs to a 8-1 win over an Oakland Athletics split squad on Tuesday.Cubs right-hander Andrew Cashner, making his second start of the spring and fourth appearance, struggled a bit in the first inning, giving up a leadoff double to Coco Crisp and an RBI single to Daric Barton. Those were the only hits he gave up in 3 1-3 innings, although he did walk two and hit a batter.The Cubs rallied to take a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a leadoff homer by Jackson, who served as the DH, and a run-scoring single by catcher Max Ramirez.Colvin, the right fielder, and Castillo, who replaced Ramirez, hit back-to-back homers in the eighth. The Cubs put the game out of reach with four runs in the ninth.