Arizona @ Chicago preview
Wrigley Field
Last Meeting ( May 1, 2010 ) Arizona 5, Chi. Cubs 7
Alfonso Soriano has his batting average back up over .300 and has found his power stroke for the Chicago Cubs.
Soriano and the Cubs will be looking to ride a rousing victory to a series win when they face the Arizona Diamondbacks in the finale of a four-game set today.
The much-maligned Soriano went six games without an extra-base hit before connecting for a double and a homer in Friday's 11-5 thrashing of the Diamondbacks. Soriano kept it going in dramatic fashion Saturday, forging a 5-5 tie in the seventh inning with a two-run blast to deep center field.
Derrek Lee made sure Soriano's heroics did not go to waste in the next inning, plating a pair of runs with a bases-loaded single to spur Chicago to a 7-5 win.
If Soriano, who began the season in a hitting and fielding slump that earned him the scorn of both Cubs fans and manager Lou Piniella, and Lee can keep it going, Chicago's lineup becomes very dangerous. Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukudome and Marlon Byrd all have averages above .340 around Lee and Soriano in the lineup.
The Cubs will take their cracks today against right-hander Edwin Jackson, who is coming off one of the worst starts in the major leagues this season. Jackson, who came over from the Detroit Tigers in an off-season trade, got lit up at Colorado, yielding 10 runs and 11 hits in just 2 1/3 innings.
The poor outing brought Jackson's ERA from 3.81 to 6.67. But at least he'll have the advantage in that the Cubs hitters should be unfamiliar with his stuff. No one on the Chicago roster has faced Jackson more than seven times.
Arizona boasts a couple of sluggers of its own in Kelly Johnson and Mark Reynolds, who are tied for the National League lead with nine homers apiece. Reynolds hit a pair in Saturday's contest.
The Cubs will send left-hander Tom Gorzelanny to the mound in the finale. Gorzelanny has not has much luck in terms of run support this season, sitting at 0-3 despite owning a 2.45 ERA. The 27-year-old has yet to allow more than two earned runs in a start this season.
Gorzelanny has had mixed success against the Diamondbacks' stable of hitters. Stephen Drew is 5-for-12 against him while Reynolds is just 2-for-9 with a homer.
Justin Upton has hit well against Gorzelanny, going 4-for-8 with a home run, while the left-handed hitting Johnson has never taken a turn against him.
A win in the finale would push the Cubs back to .500.