Soto's OBP gets boost by batting in 8th spot

PITTSBURGH - Cubs catcher Geovany Soto entered Tuesday as an on-base percentage machine. In fact, he was 2 plate appearances shy of qualifying for the National League lead in OBP, at .487.

Soto entered the day leading the Cubs with 19 walks, and he added his 20th in his first plate appearance Tuesday.

"Nineteen walks," manager Lou Piniella said. "He's been very patient at home plate. That pays dividends for you, not only with your on-base percentage, but it allows you to see a lot of pitches.

"The more pitches you see, especially early in the year, the better you're going to be."

Soto has done most of his hitting, and walking, from the No. 8 spot in the order.

"I don't think it's tougher, and the reason I say that is because they'll try to pitch around you a little more with the pitcher coming up," Piniella said.

"So it forces you, really to be more selective. That's really a nice spot for a younger hitter to learn the strike zone from."

Good-cause winner: Jolan Saviano of Arlington Heights is the Cubs winner of the honorary ballgirl contest to coincide with Mother's Day and Major League Baseball's fight against breast cancer.

Teams that are home on Mother's Day will have the honorary ballgirls at their park. The Cubs are in Cincinnati, and they will pick another day in May.

Each team had a winner based on "sharing stories of inspiration and hope and how they are supporting the fight against breast cancer."

Celebrity judges and voters on mlb.com helped select the winners.

Silva better: Pitcher Carlos Silva will start Friday, on his regular turn, rather than Saturday. Lou Piniella said over the past weekend that Silva would get an extra day of rest because of a strained right wrist.

Piniella said Monday the Cubs thought Silva would get a cortisone injection but that the wrist is feeling better and that Silva doesn't need the shot. Tom Gorzelanny will pitch Saturday in Cincinnati, followed by Ryan Dempster.

"It doesn't bother him when he throws," Piniella said. "It bothers him when he swings the bat. Because of it, we were going to give him just a little shot of cortisone. But it's gotten better, so he's not going to take that shot."

Hitting it hard: Lou Piniella praised left fielder Alfonso Soriano as having "4 of the best at-bats I've seen him have in one game in I can't remember," referring to Sunday's 2-homer, 4 RBI game.

Soriano was 8-for-20 on the homestand, coming on after a slow start. He homered in the fourth inning Tuesday night.

"I would think that you get yourself in bad habits," Piniella said. "Bad habits allow you not to be too successful. Not being too successful makes you lose confidence.

"So it's all interrelated. But I think it starts, really, with mechanics, and then it escalates from there."