This bullpen needs to be blown up. Besides Marmol, I don't want to see any of them pitching. Soriano really needs to be in the AL so he can DH, his effort out in Left is horrible.

How about the Cubs trade Soriano for Dye and a bag of money. The Cubs get a power hitting outfielder at market price. The Sox get the second baseman/leadoff hitter they need...and lots of money to make that trade acceptable.

Alfonso Soriano + Mushin Muhammad = match

I got home in time to see Marmol finish the 7th and dominate the 8th. Wood comes in and all hell breaks loose. What is with this guy? I feel bad for Zambrano and Marmol who pitched and played their ass off. Once again we see the damage that Soriano does at the front of the line up. Put him in there after Ramirez for crying out loud. At least until he can hit something. He has been a huge bust overall and can't be counted on to take pitches.

I know that Soriano isn't the classic leadoff hitter, but then again I would rather have him go 0-4 leading off than in the 5 hole.

At this point why? If he can prove himself move him up but right now he is not showing a lot of promise early in the lineup. Lee is having a potential MVP year and Ramirez heats up right about now. Any lead off man going 0-4 is going to happen from time to time but it happens to Soriano more than most

Why Pie wasn't in center and Johnson in Left is the real question. I realize that Lou wants Soriano's bat in the lineup, but it was the 9th freakin inning. There should have been no more opportunities for anyone to bat. The only consideration should have been to put the best possible DEFENSIVE outfield out there in the 9th. If he does, the double is a flyout and the Cub's may well have hung on. Dusty would have been given grief for this, no reason not to call Lou out on this one. If for no other reason than to protect Soriano's leg, Lou should have pulled him, knowing his chances to make another out were likely over anyway. I know Soriano is probably going to get hot with the bat and win some games, maybe a lot of games, but he is really subpar in the outfield (not throwing-catching the ball) and should have been playing at AAA until he got his timing down, rather than making outs and failing to catch flyballs that a good outfielder catches, at the major league level.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Steve, the fact that Soriano making his fears known about the brick wall is really telling about what kind of player he really is. He is going to really have to get over this "fear" by the end of the season. Look at the slow motion footage. Once he hits the warning track he pulls up immediately. I know he is a great weapon to have but the ball may have been catchable by someone with some more guts. He loafed from the beginning on that one. Going to cost them more than just this game this year, with or without some cushion out there in left.