Cubs come up short vs. Cain, Giants

SAN FRANCISCO - Cubs catcher Geovany Soto is happy to talk about most any subject. Just don't mention that he's leading National League catchers in voting for the All-Star Game.

"I don't want to talk about that," Soto said before Tuesday night's 2-1 loss to the Giants. "Please. Not yet."

Very well. And very well is how Soto has been performing well into his first full year in the big leagues.

Soto was behind the plate again, and he drove in the Cubs' only run with a ninth-inning single off closer Brian Wilson after Matt Cain shut the Cubs out for 8 innings.

Derrek Lee started the comeback with a leadoff triple. After Daryle Ward struck out, Soto cracked a single to right-center. Jim Emonds flied out, and Mike Fontenot reached on an infield single. That left it to Ryan Theriot, who entered the game in the seventh after being scratched from the lineup because of a stomach bug.

Theriot struck out to end the game. Cain got the decision over Cubs starter Jason Marquis, who gave up both runs and 4 hits in 7 innings.

"Matt threw the ball real well," said Marquis, who fell to 6-5. "Obviously, his talent speaks for itself. They got the run early in the game. I tried to limit them the best I could. You're going to have days where your offense is going to be shut down. It's going to happen. As a pitcher, you just try to pick them up."

The Giants jumped ahead of Marquis in a 24-pitch first inning. Fred Lewis singled, leading off, and Marquis walked Ray Durham.

Randy Winn grounded the ball to shortstop Ronny Cedeno. Cedeno ran a few steps to second base, but his throw to first was not in time to get Winn. The runners then executed a double steal, with Lewis scoring easily.

"We noticed yesterday that Winn has been running well, and he got down that line pretty good," said manager Lou Piniella, whose Cubs fell to 50-34. Piniella added the double steal may have caught second baseman Fontenot by surprise.

Marquis settled down nicely after that, working 1-2-3 innings in the second through fifth before giving up 1 in the sixth.

The Lee-Soto rally fell short. As for Soto, he said the biggest challenge in his first full big-league year is making adjustments.

"A lot more adjustments, you've got to make a lot more," he said. "That's what I've noticed. A week, make an adjustment."