Soriano Cubs’ sole source of power
Cubs manager Mike Quade has talked about starting pitching being the “backbone” of any success the Cubs are going to have.
They also could use some muscle.
Except for one guy, Alfonso Soriano, the Cubs have been woefully weak in the power department in April.
Soriano hit his team-leading eighth home run in the fifth inning of Friday night’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. In the seventh, he led off with his ninth homer, and that was the difference as the Cubs beat the D’backs 4-2 to snap a four-game losing streak.
Soriano’s first homer brought the Cubs within 2-1 against D’backs starting pitcher Armando Galarraga. Geovany Soto immediately followed with another homer to tie the game.
The Cubs entered the game 12th in the National League with 17 home runs. There’s quite an imbalance in the breakdown.
Soriano is far and away the team leader with his 9 homers. It’s the best April Soriano has enjoyed as a Cub as far as home runs go. He hit 7 in 2009. His best home run month with the team was September 2007, when he hit 14 to lead the team to the National League Central title.
There’s a big gap between Soriano and the rest of the Cubs. Soto’s homer was his second, tying him with Tyler Colvin for second on the team. Seven other players have 1 homer.
None of those players, however, is Marlon Byrd or Carlos Pena. Byrd started in center field Friday, but Pena began on the bench, with Jeff Baker getting the start at first base.
Pena, whom the Cubs paid $10 million for this year, has not homered since last Sept. 28 while with Tampa Bay. He’s in danger of going 0-for-April in the home run department, and the Cubs will need him to find the power stroke if they’re going to climb back to .500 and above.
Soriano’s homers gave starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano (3-1, 4.91 ERA) a victory. Zambrano gave up a 2-run homer in the first inning to Justin Upton, but he shut out the Diamondbacks the rest of the way.
Over 6 innings, Zambrano gave up 4 hits and the 2 runs. The quality start was Zambrano’s third of the year and only the seventh by the Cubs this season.
The Cubs were able to set up their bullpen the way they like, with Kerry Wood and Sean Marshall setting up Carlos Marmol, who earned his sixth save.
As far as the losing streak goes, manager Mike Quade told reporters before the game he wasn’t dwelling on it.
“We just lost four in a row, and we need to get out of that,” Quade said. “The important thing to me is to learn from the last four days and play today. We have to talk about what took place because that’s my job. As far as I’m concerned, I’m looking this way (forward), not that way (backward).”