With Soriano, Cubs 'all just right'

OK, dumb question.

Alfonso Soriano returned to the Cubs' lineup Tuesday night after three weeks on the disabled list. Think he was missed?

"You're talking about one of the best players in the game coming back to your lineup," said Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee. "He'll give us a spark."

There was no such spark Tuesday as Soriano went 0-for-4, but the Cubs didn't need his bat in their 5-3 comeback victory over the Brewers at Wrigley Field.

They will eventually, which is why Ryan Theriot now considers the Cubs whole for the stretch run.

"It feels like it's all just right now," Theriot said. "Like this was the way it was supposed to be when they drew up the plan."

That plan, formulated last winter by general manager Jim Hendry, had Soriano batting first, which is where he was for the opener of the key three-game series against Milwaukee.

Soriano spent three weeks out of the lineup with a strained right quad, during which time the Cubs went 8-10. Yet they managed to take over first place in the NL Central.

"I won't say we were playing bad without him, but we weren't playing great either," Theriot said.

"We did fine," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "I mean, we played a little below .500 and we actually picked up ground in our own division. That's really what the important thing is."

Soriano estimated he returned about five days ahead of schedule, admitting that the importance of the series against Milwaukee played a part in the quicker comeback.

"This series is very important," Soriano said. "I think the team needs me and I need the team, too. We want to win the division.

"I know I'm not 100 percent. I think that will take like a week to feel comfortable and be 100 percent."

Piniella stressed Soriano wasn't rushed back into the lineup just because of the Brewers series.

"In Arizona and San Francisco we asked Alfonso to do everything that a baseball player needs to do on a field, from hitting to running to fielding to stopping to throwing, and he's ready to go," Piniella said. "By us holding him back a week or 10 days, it's not going to make it any safer for his return."

Soriano grounded out in his first at-bat in the first inning and ran hard to first base.

"I'm not worried (about reinjuring the leg)." Soriano said. "I have to play smart and not try to do too much."

Piniella is confident Soriano knows what he can and can't do.

"He had a hamstring earlier in the year and he did quite well managing it on his return," Piniella said. "That's what he's going to have to do here. If we need to send him 3-and-2, we'll send him 3-and-2. Are we going to ask him to steal bases? Probably not."

Piniella thought of hitting Soriano down in the lineup and leaving Theriot in the one hole before deciding Soriano would stay in his usual leadoff spot.

"That's where he likes to hit, so why try to invent the wheel in August?" Piniella said.

Neither Soriano nor Theriot claimed to care where they batted.

"I don't care," Soriano said.

"Obviously one of the most potent and dangerous leadoff hitters in the game is on our team, so why would I want to mess with that?" Theriot said.