Soriano, Hill baffling for Piniella
ST. LOUIS -- Alfonso Soriano's Friday night was kind off all over the place. A hardened critic might say it resembled the way he attempts to chase down a flyball in left field -- a little this way, a little that way, over and in.
The beleaguered Soriano figured prominently in Friday night's Cubs-Cardinals game at Busch Stadium.
He struck out three times and artfully dodged a couple of flyballs hit in his general vicinity.
On the other hand, he drove in 3 runs, including 2 on a ninth-inning homer to rally the Cubs from a 3-1 deficit.
The game ended badly for the Cubs, however, as Skip Schumaker hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 11th off newly called up Chad Fox to give the Cardinals a 5-3 victory.
Speaking of beleaguered, Cubs manager Lou Piniella sounded just that after the second Cubs loss in two days dropped their record to 17-12.
"I've got no explanation for the left-field play," Piniella said. "I really don't."
Piniella saved his real vitriol for starting pitcher Rich Hill, who may be looking at exile from the rotation after pitching only two-thirds of an inning.
The game began on a miserable note for Hill. The lefty was making his first start since April 23, and things looked fine when he struck out leadoff man Barton on 3 quick pitches.
It unraveled quickly. Hill walked Rick Ankiel on 4 pitches before walking Albert Pujols on a full count.
Hill got Troy Glaus to pop out, but he walked Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molina, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead and ending Hill's night.
"Hill can't start like this in the big leagues," Piniella said. "Come on. Every time he pitches, it's an adventure. He's doing his best. I have no bullpen. I don't know what the solution is. I can't start him anymore until this thing gets taken care of. I would think that if we did something, we'd put (Sean) Marshall in the rotation, for now."
It was all news to Hill, who admitted the Cubs lost because of his "inability to throw strikes."
"Nobody said anything to me about that," Hill said of possibly losing his job. "I haven't heard anything about it."
The Cardinals got a run in the second off Michael Wuertz, and the Cubs scored in the third against Adam Wainwright on Soriano's RBI forceout.
Things got a bit nutty in the seventh, when the Cardinals scored an unearned run off Bob Howry. Ankiel reached on an error by Derrek Lee, who couldn't come up with a tricky-hop bouncer at first.
Pujols popped one to left field. Soriano raced in, and it looked like he whiffed. The official scorer generously gave Pujols a hit. Howry got two quick outs before Molina drove one to deep left-center.
Soriano raced back, but the ball went just over his glove and bounced over the wall for a double. It looked like another ball Soriano should have handled.
The Cubs got a big injury scare in the sixth, when third baseman Aramis Ramirez was hit on the left wrist on a Wainwright pitch. He stayed in the game but later came out for X-rays, which the Cubs said were negative. Ramirez is questionable for this afternoon's game.
"I don't know; it's pretty sore right now," he said. "We'll see how it goes. We've got a day game tomorrow. That won't help, but we'll see. I never got hit in my wrist before. It hurts pretty good. It feels better right now, but we'll see tomorrow how it feels."
Cardinals 5, Cubs 3 (11)
At the plate: Alfonso Soriano hit a 2-run homer in the ninth inning to tie the score at 3-3. He also struck out three times. Geovany Soto singled and doubled.
On the mound: Lefty Rich Hill lasted just two-thirds of an inning, as he walked four batters. Jon Lieber carried the load in the middle with 32/3 innings of scoreless relief. Bob Howry pitched a solid 2 innings late, giving up an unearned run. The loss went to Chad Fox, who gave up a 2-run homer to Skip Schumaker in the 11th.
-- Bruce Miles