Cubs are feeling sweeter
Without Piniella, Soriano the spark
Alfonso Soriano had five hits, including a three-run homer, to help the Chicago Cubs beat the Brewers, 7-2, last night in Milwaukee for their second win in a row without suspended manager Lou Piniella.
Soriano, who also had four singles, has homered in each of his last three games. The last time he had five hits in a game was with the Yankees on Sept. 17, 2002. Carlos Marmol (1-0) got the win, retiring two batters in the sixth inning in relief of starter Jason Marquis.
Piniella was issued a four-game suspension yesterday by Major League Baseball for his dirt-kicking tantrum against an umpire Saturday in Chicago, but had started serving the suspension Sunday while his full punishment was being determined.
"This is not me -- these are Lou's wins and our wins," said interim manager Alan Trammell. "It is nice to see us having smiles around here finally. Hopefully we can keep this thing going."
Chicago trailed, 2-1, in the seventh when Michael Barrett drew a leadoff walk. He stole second and advanced to third on a single by Mark DeRosa. Cesar Izturis's RBI single drove Brewers starter Dave Bush from the game.
Cliff Floyd kept the inning going with a pinch-hit single off Brian Shouse that drove in DeRosa, giving Chicago a 3-2 lead. Brewers manager Ned Yost brought in Matt Wise to pitch to Soriano, who hit the second pitch he saw into the left-field stands for his seventh home run of the season.
Bush (3-6) was charged with four runs on seven hits in six-plus innings. Marquis pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits.
The Brewers tied the game at 1-1 in the third when Prince Fielder hit his National League-leading 20th home run.
White Sox 6, Yankees 4 -- Jon Garland pitched into the ninth for host Chicago, which knocked out New York rookie Matt DeSalvo early in his spot start.
DeSalvo (1-3), starting because Roger Clemens pushed back his 2007 debut after experiencing some groin pain, left with one out in the second after the White Sox scored three times to take a 3-1 lead. DeSalvo was sent back to Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game.
Garland (4-3) allowed seven hits while striking out three and walking three. Jim Thome hit a two-run homer in the fourth for Chicago and Paul Konerko added a solo shot in the seventh.
Dodgers 6, Pirates 5 -- Derek Lowe (6-5) pitched six no-hit innings until giving up three runs in the seventh, and Los Angeles built a five-run lead before holding on in Pittsburgh.
Jeff Kent doubled in a run, Rafael Furcal hit a two-run double, and Russell Martin homered for the Dodgers.
Marlins 6, Braves 4 -- Aaron Boone had a two-out, two-run single during visiting Florida's four-run fifth against Atlanta starter Tim Hudson (6-4).
Giants 8, Phillies 1 -- Barry Zito (6-5) allowed just an unearned run over six innings and Ryan Klesko and Ray Durham went deep for San Francisco, which rolled in Philadelphia.
Angels 16, Twins 3 -- Gary Matthews Jr. had four hits, including his third career grand slam, and Los Angeles pounded out a season-high 23 hits to rout visiting Minnesota.
Mariners 7, Orioles 4 -- Ichiro Suzuki opened the scoring for host Seattle with a leadoff homer, then highlighted a two-out, four-run rally in the eighth with an RBI double.
Devil Rays 4, Royals 2 -- James Shields (5-0) took a two-hitter into the eighth and Carlos Pena homered for the second straight day as Tampa Bay earned a split of the four-game home series. 