Soriano stays in the lineup

PITTSBURGH -- A check of Alfonso Soriano's confidence revealed it was higher Saturday than it was Friday, when Soriano ran the bases tentatively.

Now here's the real kicker: Although it was Soriano's right calf that put him on the disabled list last month, it's his left calf that's been bothering him lately. He acknowledged that he might have been overcompensating to protect the right leg and, as a result, mildly injured the left one.

Soriano ran on the field late Saturday afternoon and said he felt fine.

"So far, the first two months have not been easy," he said. "Let's play four more and forget about the first two."

Manager Lou Piniella said he has been talking with Soriano.

"He's going to get better with this thing," Piniella said. "He wasn't sure of himself and probably scared or concerned about pulling it again. I told him, 'When you try to protect it, chances increase of getting hurt. Get nice and loose and get confident and let 'er go.' "

Edmonds working: Jim Edmonds hasn't started since Wednesday's series finale at Houston. In his last at-bat there, he made good contact and flied out to right field. He said he may have found something positive in doing so.

Edmonds has been taking extra batting practice at PNC Park. The left-handed batter is not starting in this series because the Pirates are throwing three lefties at the Cubs. Edmonds flied out as a pinch hitter Saturday night and is 2-for-16 as a Cub.

"Anybody who plays sporadically, yeah, it's kind of tough," he said. "I just think you try not to make too much of it, and you do what you can when you're on the field. If you have that mind-set, you don't have to worry about anything else.

"Sometimes I feel better. I found something the other day on my last swing in Houston. I felt a lot better. Still, it's results, and the results haven't been there yet."

For Edmonds, it's a matter of confidence.

"Sometimes, when you don't really feel good for a long time, you forget what it's like to feel good," he said. "You can try to mix and match and do all these things, but it's a lot of confidence and the way you feel that makes it turn around. And I've been lacking a little bit of both of those things for some time now.

"I've been trying to stay positive and do everything I can. It just gets pretty frustrating when things don't turn out in your favor."

Lou Piniella said last week that Edmonds would have to improve at the plate. How long the Cubs will go with Edmonds remains to be seen.

"I'm not even thinking about it, so I don't have any idea," Edmonds said. "I'm just lucky to be here right now. They gave me another chance to play and just go from there each and every day. I'm not really expecting too much, just try to do whatever they ask."

The Marshall plan: The Cubs will take a cautiously optimistic approach with lefty Sean Marshall, who is on the disabled list at Class AAA Iowa with a pulled left hamstring.

Marshall will miss 1, and most likely 2 starts. However, the Cubs say he will begin throwing aggressively again in 4-5 days, but they will not rush him back to have him miss only 1 start.