Soriano homered in his first two at-bats, Geovany Soto and Mark DeRosa went deep and the surging Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4 Friday for their seventh win in eight games.
Soriano connected on the first pitch from Tom Gorzelanny for his third leadoff home run in four games. Soriano launched a three-run shot in the second inning that made it 6-0, giving him five homers this week and eight this season. He has 15 hits in his last 32 at-bats.
Soto capped a three-run first with a solo homer, and DeRosa added one in the sixth inning. Chicago won its 10th straight overall against the Pirates, including 7-0 this year.
Sean Gallagher (1-0) earned his first major league win in his second start for Chicago. He allowed one run and four hits before pitcher Carlos Zambrano pinch-hit for him in the sixth.
After making eight relief appearances last season, the 22-year-old Gallagher was a late fill-in for Zambrano against Arizona on Sunday after rain delayed the start. Gallagher pitched well enough to earn another turn, but his time in the rotation could be limited since manager Lou Piniella would like to add a left-hander.
Kerry Wood pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save in 12 opportunities.
Gorzelanny (3-4), from the Chicago suburb of Evergreen Park, pitched poorly against the Cubs for the third time this season. After getting chased in the third inning of his previous two outings, he gave up a career-high four homers and seven runs in six innings.
Soriano was hitting .175 when he hobbled onto the disabled list last month with a strained right calf. While he recovered, fans called for Piniella to drop him from the leadoff spot and questioned the Cubs' decision to sign him to that eight-year, $136 million contract in November 2006.
Well, consider this his rebuttal.
