Soto not KKKKKKKKoncerned
WASHINGTON -- Cubs catcher Geovany Soto was able to smile through it all Sunday.
Soto got the day off after striking out all five times at the plate Saturday night and three times in 3-at-bats Friday. The 8 strikeouts in 8 at-bats -- with an intentional walk mixed in -- came against five different Nationals pitchers.
"It's good; we just won a game yesterday," Soto said of Saturday's 7-0 shutout. "It's been pretty rough for me, but as long as the team's winning, that's all that matters right now.
"Anything can happen. It's part of the game. Yesterday, we had a nice shutout ballgame. I don't go out there to strike out. I go out there to do my best. It happened. The positive thing is I'm happy we got a win."
After Saturday's game, manager Lou Piniella said he was proud that Soto was able to call a good game and handle starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano well despite the woes at the plate.
On Sunday, Piniella said the rough spell surprised him.
"That surprised me more than anything else because he was swinging the bat so well," Piniella said. "This will give him a couple days, and he'll be ready to go Tuesday night."
Finding a cure: Reliever Michael Wuertz was heartened Sunday after pitching a scoreless inning Saturday. Wuertz has been going through a period in which his slider has flattened out, and he's gotten hit.
Some of the problem was mechanical, and Wuertz said he and pitching coach Larry Rothschild looked at video from last year to try and correct the issues.
"I wasn't standing tall enough, just a few different things," Wuertz said. "It was making my slider kind of ineffective. … We've got it figured out, so hopefully we can get a new start from here on out."
Wuertz followed up Saturday's outing by retiring both batters he faced in the seventh inning Sunday.
Lou on Lee: Lou Piniella said he may visit with former Cubs manager Lee Elia today. Elia will be in town commemorating the 25th anniversary of his memorable postgame tirade, which took place April 29, 1983.
Elia's profanity-laced rant targeted Cubs fans whom he felt were unfairly criticizing a struggling ballclub.
In 2008, however, Elia will be unveiling a positive message for the fans, who will be able to meet him at Harry Caray's restaurant in Wrigleyville on Tuesday from 5-6:30 p.m. Benefiting from Elia's new "message" and program will be Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities.
"I'm going to see him tomorrow," said Piniella, who had Elia on his staff in Seattle and Tampa Bay. "We might even have dinner tomorrow. He's a good guy. He loves baseball. Look, that can happen to anybody. It's a one-time occurrence.
"Unfortunately, he'll be remembered for that. If you'd get to know him, you'd really like him. He's passionate. He loves Chicago, and he loves the Cub fans, believe it or not. He just went off that day. He's going to be remembered for that, but what can you do?"