Piniella defends his embattled left fielder

After watching left fielder Alfonso Soriano misplay yet another ball over the weekend in Pittsburgh, Cubs television analyst Bob Brenly finally let 'er rip.

To paraphrase Brenly, "The Cubs could throw a dart in the dugout and find a better fielder than Soriano."

Back in Chicago and back talking to the media full time, Cubs manager Lou Piniella, when told of Brenly's remark, simply shrugged it off.

"He works hard every day," Piniella said of Soriano. "Every day he catches balls, catches balls off the bat. Put it this way: He's not lazy and he does his work."

Before Monday's victory over the Dodgers, Piniella worried aloud that Soriano was lacking an initial "spurt" when he ran.

"Let's hope he's not hiding a deficiency with his legs," Piniella said. "Outside of that, the guy gets in his work, he plays to win, he's doing the best he can. That's all I can expect as the manager."

When did that start? The common perception is that, traditionally, Cubs reliever Bob Howry starts to find his groove as the season progresses.

Howry, who somehow got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning Monday, would like to know the origin of that theory.

"When did that tradition start, by the way?" he said with a laugh.

True or not, Howry played a big role in keeping the Cubs' losing streak at two games, and for that he thanks right fielder Kosuke Fukudome, who kept pinch runner Chin-Iung Hu from scoring on Matt Kemp's double off the wall.

"The play that saved the game," Howry said. "If he bobbles it at all, that run scores easily."

Feeling good? Alfonso Soriano's stilted running style, which was quite noticeable over the weekend in Pittsburgh, continued Monday at Wrigley Field and almost certainly cost the Cubs a run in the sixth inning of what turned out to be a tight game.

Soriano led off the sixth with a walk, but when Ryan Theriot followed with a single to right, Soriano could only trot into second. An out later, Aramis Ramirez singled to right, but Soriano only got as far as third and eventually the rally fizzled.

"I didn't know if he had the ball or not, so I had to stay in between on the play," Soriano said.

Said Piniella: "That was an in-between play where he just didn't know if the outfielder was going to catch it or the ball was going to hop in for a single."

As for his running, the Cubs' left fielder said everything was hunky-dory.

"Today was the best I've felt," Soriano said. "I felt very good. My legs felt fine."

Veteran thoughts: Dodgers manager Joe Torre and Cubs skipper Lou Piniella have combined to take 19 teams to the postseason, so they've seen it all. Their thoughts on Memorial Day:

Torre: "9/11 was certainly an indication that we've been spoiled for many years -- having our men and women go over somewhere else and fight. That was on our own turf, which certainly gets your attention. A lot of our young people don't get the chance to get older. Without them, we wouldn't have the freedom we enjoy today.

Piniella: "It's a little bit of a solemn day for me. It's a holiday, but at the same time when you reflect back, there's a lot of sorrow. We are in a free country, and we thank God for that, and it's because of our military."

Injury Ward: Though his manager says he's doing well and looking "svelte," it looks like Daryle Ward and his bad back are at least a couple of weeks away from returning to action. "It'll be longer than the 15-day DL," Piniella said.

He said it: Joe Torre on the many successful playoff battles between his Yankees and Lou Piniella's Seattle Mariners: "Well, we spent a lot more money than they did."