Soriano homers twice to lead Cubs over Pirates

Sean Gallagher doesn't consider himself a morning person.

But when he rolled over and checked the bed-side clock Friday, 6:30 a.m. seemed like the perfect time to start one of the best days of his life.

"I was like, 'I've got to get up,' " Gallagher said.

After all, it's not every morning you're destined to earn your first major-league win.

"Today the adrenalin was kicking," Gallagher said. "I was ready to go. If the game could have started at 9 o'clock in the morning, I would've been out there and ready to go."

"He was just so excited," said catcher Geovany Soto. "I saw him before the game and he looked really weird."

Gallagher, a born talker who tends to speak even more when anxious, managed to hold it together until he threw the first pitch at 1:22 p.m. Before the clock hit 2 p.m., he enjoyed a 6-run cushion that made his job easier.

Buoyed by Alfonso Soriano's pair of homers and 4 RBI in the first two innings, Gallagher allowed his only run in the sixth to steer the Cubs to a 7-4 triumph over Pittsburgh before 40,537 at Wrigley Field.

Many in the sellout crowd clearly cut out of work early to see the Cubs' seventh win in eight games, a group that included Paul Gallagher. The businessman fled a conference in Syracuse, N.Y. to see his son make his second big-league start.

After icing his shoulder and taking a shower, Gallagher planned to meet his father just outside Wrigley and hand him the ball that third baseman Aramis Ramirez caught for the game's final out.

"(Kerry Wood) gave it to me," Gallagher said. "And our (clubhouse guys) got about a dozen balls from the game and they're all getting authenticated so I can take them home and keep them for a long time."

And Gallagher's chances to earn more mementos this year increased markedly after he scattered 4 hits and 3 walks in his 6 innings of work.

Here was Cubs manager Lou Piniella on Gallagher three hours before the game:

"We'll see. We'll see how he pitches today. Look, I don't know what's going to happen or when. But, sure, I'd like to see another left-hander in the rotation."

Here was Piniella 15 minutes after the Cubs' seventh win in the last eight days:

"Look, it's pretty simple. If you're pitching well and you're getting people out, you're going to get the ball.

"He had a real nice ball game, so next Wednesday he's got the ball in Houston. If he continues to pitch well, he can stay right in the rotation. He's got a nice arm and he competes well."

Gallagher (1-0) tickled the radar gun at 93 mph in the first inning and was still throwing that hard in the sixth. More important, he had a fine slider, a decent curveball and he got ahead of most of the Pirates.

"When the situation came to bury a pitch, I went to the slider," Gallagher said.

And the Cubs continued to bury the Pirates. They've won all seven meetings this year and 10 in a row dating to last September.

Pittsburgh starter Tom Gorzelanny, who grew up on the south side, surrendered a career-high 4 homers to give up exactly 7 earned runs to the Cubs for the third time this year.

He owns a 17.18 ERA against the Cubs and 2.76 ERA against everyone else.

"Let's hope I don't face them again," Gorzelanny quipped.