The Chicago Cubs had lost four of their first five games to start the second half, but they were hoping a big addition would change their fortunes. Maybe it worked.
The Cubs activated outfielder Alfonso Soriano on Wednesday before their game with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He returned six weeks to the day after breaking a bone in his left hand.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella put Soriano in the leadoff spot with Kosuke Fukudome moving down to the sixth spot.
Soriano went 1-for-5 with a double and had an RBI groundout in the Cubs' three-run fifth inning. They went on to beat the D-backs 10-6 to complete a 2-4 road trip. More importantly, the Cubs hung on to sole possession of first place in the NL Central heading back to Wrigley Field.
Soriano made two rehab appearances -- with the Rookie league Mesa team on Monday and with Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday.
Before going down, Soriano was batting .283 with 15 home runs and 40 RBIs. The Cubs initially played well in his absence but had struggled of late. Heading into Wednesday night's game, the Cubs were 16-18 without their leadoff hitter. They're now 1-0 with him in the second half.
The news wasn't all good for the Cubs. Closer Kerry Wood threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and the blister on the index finger of his pitching hand remained problematic.
The team hasn't decided whether to disable the right-hander, but he threw only changeups on Wednesday, according to The Chicago Tribune.
The newspaper reported that the Cubs are considering calling up former Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzija, who has been starting and putting up power pitching numbers at Triple-A Iowa, to help fill the void.
"With a lot of guys you might have questions about, 'How's he going to handle [the pressure]?'" Cubs assistant general manager Randy Bush said, according to the newpaper. "But with [Samardzija], you just think he'll handle it well."
On Wednesday, Chicago also activated left-handed reliever Scott Eyre, who went on the disabled list June 28 with a strained groin. To make room on the roster the Cubs sent outfielder Micah Hoffpauir and right-handed reliever Kevin Hart to Iowa.