Lee leads Cubs past Reds; Soriano may hop over to DL

The Cubs used to have a player who performed a little "hop" whenever he thought one of his hits was going out of the park. That was Sammy Sosa.

They've got a player now who likes to do a little hop before he catches a flyball. That's Alfonso Soriano.

If team brass wasn't hip on the hop from either player, it never let on. Now, the Cubs have reason to worry about Soriano, who came up limping after his hop, skip and catch of Ken Griffey Jr.'s flyball in the first inning of Tuesday night's 9-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Soriano strained his right calf and had to come out of the game. The Cubs did not have an immediate word on how long their $136 million left fielder would be out, but they said he went to the hospital for an MRI.

Manager Lou Piniella did not sound optimistic about Soriano, who missed five games early last year with a hamstring injury and three weeks later in the year with a quadriceps injury.

"We'll have the results in the morning, but the answer is it'll probably be awhile," Piniella said.

Piniella didn't directly answer when asked about "the hop."

"What do I think about it?" he asked. "He catches the ball that way. It seems like a natural move for him."

A stint on the disabled list is probable for Soriano. The Cubs likely would recall outfielder Matt Murton from Class AAA Iowa if Soriano goes on the DL.

The Cubs overcame the loss of Soriano and scored a KO of Reds ace Aaron Harang, who came into the game 8-3 against the Cubs and 4-0 at Wrigley Field.

Mark DeRosa, who moved from second base to left field after Soriano's injury, hit a 2-run homer in the second inning to bring the Cubs back from a 1-0 deficit.

"I have no problems moving around, doing what's best for the team," said DeRosa, who played a game in left last year. "I want to find my name in the lineup. If it means going to left field to help this team win ballgames, that's what I'll do."

Ken Griffey Jr. hit a 2-run homer off Cubs starter Ryan Dempster in the third before the Cubs' best hitter changed the game in the fifth.

With a pair of runners on base, Derrek Lee crushed a homer to left-center to put the Cubs ahead for good. The homer was Lee's fifth of the season.

Dempster (2-0, 2.37 ERA) didn't earn a "quality start," as he gave up 4 runs in 6 innings, but he pitched creditably. After throwing only 5 pitches in the first inning, Dempster ran his pitch count to 106 by the time Piniella came to get him in the seventh inning after the first two Reds reached base.

"I've always said I like to win ugly, preferred to losing pretty," Dempster said. "It was a battle out there. I didn't have the command I had the last couple games."

Carlos Marmol got good defense from second baseman Mike Fontenot and Lee in the seventh and struck out the side in the eighth.