After 0-5 day, will Soriano lose his leadup spot now?

Maybe now Cubs manager Lou Piniella will take Alfonso Soriano out of the leadoff spot.

After sitting his highly paid left fielder for two games, Piniella put Soriano back in the lineup and in the leadoff spot for Friday's 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Soriano went 0-for-5 as his batting average sunk to .226 and his on-base percentage fell to .291. Even before Friday, there had been talk of moving the slumping Soriano down in the lineup.

"Look, Soriano will start hitting," Piniella said. "We'll probably make a few adjustment with our lineup tomorrow, OK? I can tell you I have confidence in the young man and that I feel he's going to hit. But we are going to make some adjustments with the lineup."

When pressed, Piniella said: "I said we're going to make some adjustments with the lineup, and we'll leave it at that."

Soriano is 27-for-156 (. 173) over his last 36 games. He expressed willingness to do whatever Piniella wants.

"If he thinks he has to change the lineup, he's the manager," Soriano said.

Asked if a move could take the pressure off, Soriano seemed to think so.

"It could be," he said. "I remember batting lower in the order with the Yankees. I also like to play this game no matter where I'm batting."

It's possible Sam Fuld will lead off and play right field or center and that Soriano will stay in left and bat sixth.

Sunny daze: Right fielder Milton Bradley lost another ball in the sun as Jason Kendall's flyball in the ninth went off Bradley's right arm for a double. Against the Twins on June 12 he had trouble with Jason Kubel's flyball, which dropped for a hit.

"What I'm going to do is start using flips," he said, referring to flip-down sunglasses. "I've been told that possibly wearing glasses all the time, it's not enough of an adjustment. When you look up, it's not as bright, but it's not blocking the sun out."

Bradley heard boos from the Wrigley Field crowd of 41,204.

"I'm used to it now," he said. "Some guys are cheered. They boo (for him). That's my thing."

Warning, warning: Both benches were warned about throwing at batters. The Cubs' Carlos Zambrano hit Prince Fielder in the upper arm in the fourth inning. Jeff Suppan apparently retaliated by hitting Derrek Lee in the upper leg in the bottom half of the fourth, bringing the warnings.

Hot seat? With Cubs coming off the disabled list soon, one player who might be in jeopardy of going to the minor leagues is infielder Mike Fontenot, who's batting .225.

"Fontenot's another kid that we need to get a little more consistent with the bat and help us a little bit more offensively," said manager Lou Piniella. "There's no reason why he can't hit in the .250-. 260 range with a little power."

Playing Fossum: The Cubs signed veteran pitcher Casey Fossum to a minor-league deal. He'll play at Class AAA Iowa. Fossum is 40-53 with a 5.45 ERA in parts of nine big-league seasons. He pitched briefly for the Mets this year.