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CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs catcher Dioner Navarro may have put it best after his buddy Welington Castillo skipped out on talking to the media after Castillo's first four-hit game in a 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday.

"Rookie mistake," Navarro said with a laugh.

Castillo presumably got out of the locker room quickly to head to Milwaukee where the Cubs open a series on Friday. When they do, there's a good chance he'll be the leading hitter in all of baseball with a .425 average. His .452 on-base percentage ranks sixth.

"If he could swing the bat like this all year long we could have something special because (his) defense behind the plate is one of the best in baseball," manager Dale Sveum said after the game.

And coming from Sveum that's meaningful. It wasn't long ago the Cubs skipper was still curious what kind of player Castillo was going to be -- he said as much at the end of spring training when Castillo hit just .204 while striking out 13 times in 49 at-bats. He looked anything but ready for the season.

Once the switch was flipped for real, though, Castillo took off. His four hits on Thursday went to all parts of the ballpark. More than anything it means for this season, Castillo is showing he might belong in the core for the future. You know, when the Cubs are ready to contend.

They have a check-mark at first base (Anthony Rizzo) and shortstop (Starlin Castro) and probably one in Jeff Samardzija at the top of the rotation. Getting one behind the plate might make this year a successful one on its own.

Then maybe his "rookie mistakes" will be behind him.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs reliever Shawn Camp's usage in 2012 could be hurting him in 2013.

It's a question worth exploring after Camp's rough start to the season. He's given up 11 hits and eight runs, including two home runs, in just six appearances and 4 2/3 innings pitched this season. Last season he gave up seven home runs in 80 games played.

"Just inconsistency the last couple of outings," Camp said before Thursday's game against the Texas Rangers. "Obviously my breaking ball is what we're taking a look at. I think it's just a mechanical issue right now. We saw some pretty drastic differences between last year and this year. It's something I'm going to fix."

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Here's a quick look at the Chicago Cubs' 6-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Thursday at Wrigley Field:

How it Happened: The Cubs exploded early off Rangers' starter Alexi Ogando. Nate Schierholtz scored their first run after doubling in the second inning and getting driven in by a Welington Castillo single. They added four more in the third on back-to-back home runs by Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano chasing Ogando before he could get through the inning. Meanwhile, Carlos Villanueva rolled through the Rangers giving up just four hits but two left the park. Ian Kinsler hit a solo shot in the 4th inning followed by a Nelson Cruz blast in the seventh. But those two players were the only ones to get hits off Villanueva as he stymied the rest of the lineup to win his first game as a Cub.

What it Means: Maybe for the first time this season the Cubs' balanced lineup paid off. Every lefty in the lineup hit the ball hard off Ogando while he didn't exactly mow down the righties. Going left, right, left, right, all the way down the Cubs starting nine gave the Rangers' pitcher trouble. Villanueva isn't looking like a No. 5 starter and won't be seeing the bullpen for a while -- if at all this season. He kept the ball down as he's done in all his starts and home plate umpire Bill Miller was prefect for him. He called low strikes all afternoon. Villanueva is the best and biggest surprise for the Cubs so far.

Key Stats: Castillo went 4-4, his first four hit game of his career. He's hitting .425 on the year ... Starlin Castro walked his first two times up, his first two free passes of the season. He also had a hit in his 10th consecutive game ... According ESPN Stats and Info Rizzo's third inning home run traveled 475 feet, the longest in baseball this season ... David DeJesus was on base three times with a triple, double and walk. ... Soriano's home run was his first run driven in this season.

What's Next: The 5-9 Cubs travel to Milwaukee to begin a weekend series with the Brewers and a 10-game road trip. Jeff Samardzija pitches for the Cubs on Friday.

The weather in Chicago is even affecting rehabbing Chicago Cubs players as pitcher Matt Garza's start at Class-A Kane County on Friday has been canceled due to concerns about the field conditions. Instead, Garza will travel with the Cubs to Milwaukee this weekend and throw a simulated game there.

"Tomorrow (Friday) will just be like two innings, like a 35-pitch simulation type thing," manager Dale Sveum said before Thursday's game against the Texas Rangers.

If all goes well Garza will then pitch for Double-A Tennessee as he continues to recover from a lat injury suffered early in spring training. It caused him to miss the entire Cactus League season.

Third baseman Ian Stewart was supposed to play in games at Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday but rain-outs there have postponed his rehab from a quad injury also suffered early in spring.

"He was supposed to play three, nine-inning games in a row and then got rained out yesterday and rained out already today (Thursday)," Sveum said. "It's still a slow process."

Stewart is 0-7 in two games for Iowa with four strikeouts. He's to play there for about two weeks before rejoining the Cubs.

CHICAGO -- Dealing with April weather that seems more like November has been tough for the Chicago Cubs and their coaching staff. The team has cancelled two games within a week due to rain and winter-like conditions.

Manager Dale Sveum has pushed his players to embrace spring time in Chicago as a home-field advantage, but this home stand has been difficult to deal with.

"This has been a little exceptional as far as getting on the field," said Sveum before Wednesday's game against the Texas Rangers was cancelled. "Even when we have been able to get on the field it has been pretty miserable."

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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs, who were rained out Wednesday for a second time on this homestand, all but admitted a mistake in allowing reliever Kyuji Fujikawa to start the season in the bullpen instead of the disabled list. Fujikawa pitched in five games giving up eight hits and six runs despite feeling pain in his elbow.

"He dealt with this at the end of spring training," general manager Jed Hoyer said on Tuesday. "We thought the time off at the end of spring would get him right and it never really did. Possibly this should have been done at the end of spring training going into the season, but we thought he was ready to go. Obviously he didn't quite get there."

Fujikawa was promoted to closer the day after giving up three runs in the eighth inning of a game against Atlanta the first week of the season. Then he blew a save on Friday and subsequently went on the disabled list Saturday.

"It was pretty obvious to everyone, his command wasn't there," Hoyer said. "And really that's his strong suit ... when a guy starts losing that you start to wonder what a guy is covering up."

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CHICAGO -- Texas Rangers catcher Geovany Soto, who returned to Wrigley Field for this week's series after playing five years for the Chicago Cubs, does not agree with the disparaging remarks his teammate Lance Berkman said about Wrigley.

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CHICAGO -- A.J. Pierzynski returned to the city he called home for eight seasons Tuesday evening, but with a new team. After leaving the Chicago White Sox as a free agent, the catcher signed a one-year, $7.5 million deal with the Texas Rangers. Coming back to play the Chicago Cubs has a little less meaning, according to the feisty competitor.

"That series -- the Cubs and Sox is special,” he said before Tuesday's game. “For that, the city turns it up a notch. Everyone here is either a Cub or Sox fan. You are on one side or another, you can’t walk down the middle. It was always fun to come here, it was always fun to play on the other side of town. It was a special series.”

Pierzynski had some big games against the Cubs in the past. That included a game-winning home run off of Ryan Dempster and a fistfight with Cubs catcher Michael Barrett after a home-plate collision.

“It was always very special when you were on the White Sox side coming here," he said. “That was especially true when I first got here because the Cubs were really good. When both of us were really good, it was really fun to play these games. Everyone expected something special to happen, and most of the time it involved something that I had to do. People were just waiting for something to happen.”

The Cubs fans always seemed to save their loudest jeers for Pierzynski when he played for the crosstown Sox. “It was always great and always very fun,” he said. “The fans here have always been great to me. Yeah, they boo, they yell and stuff, but they never cross the line here. They were always very cordial and fun. I expect nothing less.”

CHICAGO -- Here's a quick look at the Chicago Cubs' 4-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field:

How it happened: A ninth-inning rally fell short as Darwin Barney lined out off of closer Joe Nathan with the bases loaded. Center fielder Craig Gentry made a diving catch on the play. Travis Wood and Derek Holland were locked in a pitchers' duel on another cold night, but reliever Shawn Camp turned a 1-0 Cubs deficit into a 4-0 Texas lead when he threw wild to first on a pick-off move in the eighth inning -- scoring a runner from third -- and then gave up a two-run home run to Adrian Beltre. The Cubs managed two hits against Holland with Nate Schierholtz driving in the Cubs' two runs in the ninth with a bases-loaded single, but that's as close as they got.

What it means: Once again the Cubs wasted another solid effort by a starting pitcher. Their offense did little and their bullpen failed to keep the game close. The Cubs have scored three runs in 36 innings this season when a left-hander has opposed them. Dave Sappelt is 1-for-19 to begin the season having started all four games against left-handers. Scott Hairston is 1-for-14 in four starts as well. Though manager Dale Sveum has been adamant about starting those players against lefties he may have to rethink that strategy.

Barney's return: Barney returned from an injury after missing the first 12 games of the season. He had a chance to be the hero but went 0-for-4.

What's next: The series continues on Wednesday as Carlos Villanueva takes the mound for the 4-9 Cubs.

CHICAGO -- At least one roof-top owner is eager to see the Chicago Cubs' plans for renovation.

Beth Murphy, owner of Murphy's Bleachers, says she is concerned about the future of her business and the neighborhood in which she has lived for over 30 years.

"I heard they are going to make a presentation to the community on May 8," Murphy said Tuesday night. "The community has been in the dark about these plans. There has been some dismay about how the Cubs have gone about this. They now make their presentations at the Cub convention and not to the residents of the 44th ward."

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said Tuesday he will need more revenue streams if he is to make the Cubs a consistent contender, echoing what chairman Tom Ricketts said the previous day.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Garza will begin a rehab stint at Single-A Kane County on Friday, the team announced before Tuesday's game against the Texas Rangers.

Garza is expected to pitch two innings as he continues to recover from a lat injury on his left side which has sidelined him since beginning of spring training.

Garza, 29, missed the second half of last season because of an elbow problem, then went down because of his lat ailment in the opening days of spring training while throwing batting practice. He signed a one-year, $9.5 million deal in the offseason and will become a free agent after this season.

Garza threw a bullpen session Tuesday at Wrigley Field and the Cubs declared him ready to pitch in games, however there is no timetable for his return to the Cubs.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs have "ramped up security" in the aftermath of the bombing at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

"We have large crowds on a regular basis and they trust us with their safety," Cubs president Theo Epstein said Tuesday. "It's difficult to keep large numbers of people safe so we have to take every precaution."

According to a Cubs spokesperson, all employees will "operate with a heightened awareness" while additional specific measures will be in place for the near future including, but not exclusively, the following:

• All garbage cans are being removed from the exterior of Wrigley Field.
• All bags exceeding the maximum size of 16 x 16 x 8 inches are not allowed into the ballpark.
• Stepped up police presence will be in the neighborhood for the games
• A canine unit will be stationed outside of the facility.

Epstein called the measures in line with what took place immediately following 9/11 saying that they've always been in place but some may have been "lax". Not anymore.

"We've ramped up security even tighter in the aftermath of what happened (Monday)," he said.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs activated second baseman Darwin Barney from the disabled list, one of several roster moves the team made Tuesday before their game against the Texas Rangers.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum is sticking with his mostly right-handed lineup when his team begins a three-game interleague series against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

With lefty Derek Holland starting for the Rangers, Sveum will start Dave Sappelt in center field and Scott Hairston in right. That means .343 hitter Nate Schierholtz starts on the bench. He leads the team with an-on base percentage of .410.

Second baseman Darwin Barney makes his season debut coming off a knee injury, and Alberto Gonzalez starts at third base. Here's the entire lineup:

1. Sappelt, CF
2. Starlin Castro, SS
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Alfonso Soriano, LF
5. Hairston, RF
6. Welington Castillo, C
7. Barney, 2B
8. Gonzalez, 3B
9. Travis Wood, P

Sveum hasn't budged from his pledge to load up on right-handed hitters when a lefty is on the mound, though that kind of lineup is 0-3 this season with the starting nine producing just one run. They have a batting average of .208 against lefties so far with an on-base percentage of .292.

Players from both teams will wear No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. Major League Baseball celebrated "Jackie Robinson Day" on Monday but both teams were off.