Soriano seeing ball well, leading to - surprise! - walks

PITTSBURGH - Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano is never going to be mistaken for the Incredible Walking Man, but it does look like he's taken a more patient approach at the plate lately.

Heading into Monday night's series opener against the Pirates, Soriano had walked in five consecutive games, a career best for the free-swinger. In those five games he had drawn 7 walks. That streak ended Monday, but Soriano did manage 3 singles.

When confronted with the walk numbers, he broke out into a big grin.

"I'm seeing the ball very good, so that's a little surprising, too," he said. "That's good, because I've got to get on base as much as I can."

Soriano had played 81 games entering Monday, drawing 29 walks. In 135 games last season, he drew 31 walks and finished with an on-base percentage of .337. His OBP entering Monday was .341.

"I'm not swinging at bad pitches," he said. "I'm the same guy - aggressive at home plate, but I'm trying to swing at strikes."

During the playoffs last year, the Arizona Diamondbacks didn't give Soriano much to hit, but he swung at it anyway, and the Cubs were swept in three games.

"That's very important," he said. "That's why I'm trying to be more selective at home plate. Be aggressive at home plate, but swing at strikes."

One small step: Kosuke Fukudome was back in right field, one day after hitting a pinch homer against the Nationals. Before Sunday's game, manager Lou Piniella and hitting coach Gerald Perry stressed the importance of Fukudome shortening his stride.

Piniella says he'll play Fukudome, and if he makes progress, he'll return to the fifth spot in the lineup. Fukudome batted seventh against the Pirates after coming out for early batting practice.

"We'll see how he does with it," Piniella said. "He had a nice batting-practice session today. If he's swinging the bat, why not? Let him play."

Piniella added he didn't believe it would take Fukudome a long time to incorporate the changes.

"I don't think so. We really didn't change anything dramatically," the manager said. "All we did was shorten his stride, which is something that's relatively simple. It's not an overhaul of any kind. It's not changing anything at all, the stance or the way you hold your hands. It's just trying to get your foot down quicker so that you get a better look at the ball and you make a more compact swing."

No minor achievement: The Cubs' Class AAA Iowa club clinched a postseason berth Sunday, beating Oklahoma.

Kevin Hart, who has made some adjustments at Iowa since being sent down, earned his fifth save. Catcher Koyie Hill, who will be a September call-up, hit his 16th homer.

With the Iowa Cubs in the playoffs, the Cubs might delay a couple of call-ups by a few days.

The Cubs expect about a half-dozen call-ups. Hot-hitting first baseman Micah Hoffpauir probably won't be held back. The Cubs expect to call him up on Sept. 1 and use him to spell Derrek Lee at first base and to pinch hit.