Injuries starting to concern Piniella
Cubs manager Lou Piniella had cooled off considerably Wednesday after being visibly upset after Tuesday night's 7-5 loss to the Orioles.
What's starting to worry Piniella, however, are some nagging injuries.
Right fielder Kosuke Fukudome had to be scratched shortly before Wednesday night's game because of what the Cubs described as left-calf tightness. The Cubs said the injury is not serious and that Fukudome didn't need to see a doctor.
Piniella denied the Cubs suffered a letdown against the O's after the big White Sox series over the weekend.
"No, what I'm concerned about are all these injuries we're starting to encounter," he said. "There's no letdown. We played a good ballgame last night. We got beat. We had chances. The team fought. We weren't flat. Baltimore just hit us, and we had that one inning where we gave them some runs.
"That's not our problem. Our problem (is) we're starting to get a little thin."
The Cubs rallied from a 7-1 deficit only to fall 7-5, leaving the bases loaded on strikeouts by Ronny Cedeno, Fukudome and Henry Blanco. Piniella's lament was that those hitters displayed a lack of patience.
Soriano optimistic: Left fielder Alfonso Soriano will have more X-rays taken Friday of his broken left hand. Soriano has been on the disabled list since June 12 with a broken fourth metacarpal.
"Tonight's two weeks, and I said to myself, 'two more weeks,' and see what happens," he said. "I think I'll be ready to play before the All-Star Game. If I'm available to play, I think I'll go to the All-Star Game."
The Cubs' original estimate is that Soriano would miss six weeks total.
"He heals really quick," Lou Piniella said. "I don't want to sound overly optimistic, but I'll tell you this: If there's anybody who can do it, he's shown he can. Now, this is a broken bone as opposed to being muscular. But he's coming along fine. I would think, just looking at it, it won't be six weeks. If we can get him back right after the all-star break, I think we'd feel really good about it."
If Soriano gets voted into the All-Star Game, Piniella sounded fine with letting him play.
"If he's going to be ready afterward, the All-Star Game would be fine, too," the manager said. "If we're going to have to rush him to get him for the All-Star Game, that's a little different story. But if he's going to be ready right after the All-Star Game, why not?"
Minor matters: The Cubs seemed happy with the outing Tuesday night of pitcher Jeff Samardzija for Class AAA Iowa. In a 4-2 loss at Albuquerque, Samardzija took the loss but worked 6 innings, giving up 7 hits and 3 runs. He walked two and struck out five.
It was Samardzija's first start for Iowa since his promotion from Class AA Tennessee. The Cubs were especially pleased because the Albuquerque park is a hitter's paradise.
Rotation roulette: Ryan Dempster will start Friday instead of Saturday against the White Sox, as the Cubs had announced. Sean Gallagher, Friday's original starter, will go Saturday. Lou Piniella said he wants to get Dempster as many starts as possible before the break.