Cubs at the plate: Geovany Soto hit a pair of homers, his first of the spring. The Cubs opened up the scoring in a six-run third inning against left-handed A's starter Dallas Braden on Alfonso Soriano's leadoff double, an Aaron Miles sacrifice bunt and Derrek Lee's RBI single. With the bases loaded, Reed Johnson was hit by a pitch, driving in the second run, and Soto followed with a grand slam. Soto's second homer was a solo shot to lead off the sixth against A's reliever Andrew Bailey.

A's at the plate: Oakland broke through against Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano in the bottom of the third on singles by Orlando Cabrera and Matt Holliday. In the fifth, against reliever Luis Vizcaino, Kurt Suzuki singled and Travis Buck followed with a two-run homer, his fourth homer of the spring. Cliff Pennington added two RBIs as the A's rallied with a three-run eighth and went on to push across the tying run in the ninth.

Cubs on the mound: The right-handed Zambrano made his last start of the spring in his tuneup for the Cubs' opener on Monday night at Houston and cruised into the fourth inning, allowing one run and two hits, with a pair of walks and a strikeout. He also hit one batter and tossed a wild pitch. Zambrano was lifted after Jack Cust grounded out to open the fourth.

A's on the mound: Braden, in his tuneup start for the A's opener on Monday night against the Angels in Anaheim, was belted for six runs on eight hits in five innings, all six of the runs coming in the third inning. He walked two, whiffed one, allowed the granny to Soto and a wild pitch.

Cactus League records: Cubs 17-16-2; A's 15-17-2

Up next: Ryan Dempster will start against Cleveland right-hander Anthony Reyes on Thursday, but Dempster's only scheduled to throw three innings. This will be his last tuneup before his April 7 regular-season start at Houston.