What a day for Alfonso Soriano. He came up with a huge 3-run home run in the 7th inning with 2 on and 2 out to put the Cubs up 10 to 7 over the Astros. Soriano also had a single and a double to give him 4 RBI on the day. He touched home twice.
Watch out if Soriano continues to stay hot. He is 6 for his last 14 at-bats and has raised his batting average from .274 on July 26th to .297 on August 5th. This is the highest batting average Soriano has had all year, with the closest coming way back on the 18th of May when he was sitting on .296. He is batting .321 since the All-Star break.
The Cubs are a dangerous team when Soriano is hitting the ball the way he is right now. It seems as though his performance boosts many of the other players performance as well. They say hitting is contagious, and I believe it. The Cubs were 24-22 when Soriano was on the DL during April, June, and July. When Soriano is off the DL, the Cubs are an impressive 45-23. So, just having him on the field appears to give the Cubs a huge boost. Add a Soriano that is on fire, and the Cubs are even more deadly.
Not only is Alfonso hitting well, but he is also trying to steal more bases in the second half. He had an unimpressive total of 7 steals in 51 games before the All-Star break, but he already has 4 steals in only 13 games after the All-Star break. A speedy Soriano in front of Lee and Ramirez should give the Cubs more plentiful scoring opportunities. If Soriano stays hot, healthy, and aggressive on the bases the Cubs should be on their way to a NL Central title for the second consecutive year.
-K. King 8/5/08
Keywords: Alfonso, Alfonso Soriano, All-Star, Aramis Ramirez, baseball, Chicago, Chicago Cubs, Cubs, Derrek Lee, DL, home run, Lee, MLB, NL, NL Central, Ramirez, Soriano, steal, Wrigley Field
