Soriano's not slowing down

Alfonso Soriano is hot. How hot?

He's in one of his stretches where he can carry his team, much like he did last September, when he hit 14 homers to help lead the Cubs to the NL Central title.

Soriano hit a 3-run homer in Wednesday's 11-4 victory over the Astros. It was his 21st homer of the season, a stat made more impressive because he missed six weeks with broken hand and two weeks early in the season with a calf injury.

Since the all-star break, Soriano is 23-for-66 (. 348) with 6 homers, 15 RBI, an on-base percentage of .389 and a slugging percentage of .697. While manager Lou Piniella and Soriano's teammates feel they feed off his success, Soriano says he isn't so sure.

"I don's know about that," he said. "The important thing for me is that I feel comfortable at home plate, and the team plays very well."

Soriano defined "comfortable" as "not swinging at bad pitches."

Teammate DeRosa has seen this before.

"It doesn't look like Soriano needs much help right now," DeRosa said. "When he gets hot, it's pretty unbelievable. When most guys get hot, they get a couple knocks. He hits balls in the seats on a daily basis."

Soriano also hit a 3-run homer in Tuesday's 11-7 victory over the Astros.

"It seems like he's hitting a 3-run home run every single day," said first baseman Derrek Lee. "When he gets in his zones, you can't throw him a strike or he's going to hit a home run."

Happy camper: Jon Lieber isn't about to make any waves.

With Scott Eyre gone, Lieber now is the lone member of the "forgotten men" club in the Cubs bullpen. The 38-year-old right-hander pitched in a minor-league rehab game Tuesday night for Class A Peoria, working 3 innings and giving up 5 hits and 3 runs while walking none and striking out three.

Lieber has been on the disabled list since July 18 with a strained right foot.

"The foot feels all right," he said. "I'm just trying to build up my arm strength a little bit now. I was pretty pleased with last night, but at the same time, I've got to get my sinker downward. It's kind of side to side right now. Overall, I was pretty pleased for not having thrown in a game for a while."

Lieber has not thrown in a big-league game since July 10. The season has not turned out the way he had hoped and expected. The Cubs signed Lieber to a one-year deal as a free agent in January, and even through spring training, it appeared Lieber might win a spot in the starting rotation.

He made 1 spot start and got lit up at Cincinnati on May 7, giving up 4 homers. Since then, he's been relegated to middle relief and mop-up work.

The Cubs probably will keep Lieber on the DL until Sept. 1 and then activate him when rosters expand. Lieber doesn't wish to be traded, and the Cubs aren't inclined to release him, so he'll wait.

"I have no clue," he said. "Just got to wait and see. I'm not going to interrupt anything that's going on right now. We're winning, so that's all I care about. We'll just see how it goes. No hurry."

Meet the new boss? Rumors swept through Wrigley Field that prospective owner Mark Cuban would be in the house.

Cuban, the apparent high bidder for the Cubs at this point, was supposed to attend pitcher Kerry Wood's celebrity bowling tournament Wednesday night. Proceeds went to the Organic School Project, an organization dedicated to childhood health and nutrition.

"Yeah, I heard that," Wood said about Cuban showing up. "I think he's going to be there. I don't turn anybody away from giving back to the kids."

Wood said he felt fine after Tuesday's 1-inning relief appearance, his first since coming off the disabled list because of a blister on his right index finger.