Soriano spent six weeks on the disabled list with a broken left hand, suffered June 11. His return added life to a Cubs offense that was beginning to struggle at midseason.

"I thought when we were on the Houston-Arizona trip (right after the break), we were really starting to show the strains of no Soriano in our lineup," Lou said. "We needed to get Alfonso back in the lineup, and it came at the right time for us. It showed. He came back at the right time. It's so much easier just writing his name in the lineup in the one-hole and working your lineup after three and four and then working the other pieces, as opposed to worrying who our leadoff hitter is."

On top of it, the Cubs haven't heard much talk lately of Soriano not being an "ideal" leadoff hitter.

"This kid here is a game-changer when he's on," Piniella said. "Everybody was questioning whether he should hit first or whatever. You can see that's where he belongs."

CUBS 9, MARLINS 2: The Cubs rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the seventh Sunday by scoring eight runs. LF Alfonso Soriano tied the game with a two-run double. CF Reed Johnson hit a three-run double later in the inning. In all, the Cubs hit four doubles in the seventh, three with the bases loaded. RHP Ryan Dempster worked six innings, giving up five hits and two runs. He walked two and struck out 10.

INSIDE EDGE: RHP Carlos Zambrano has been dropping his "arm slot" of late, and that always sounds the sirens and alarm bells that something is physically wrong with the Cubs' nominal ace. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild says there's nothing at all wrong with Zambrano that a little slowing down on the mound won't fix. According to both Rothschild and manager Lou Piniella, Zambrano has a tendency to rush his delivery, especially with men on base. That causes his arm slot to drop, and he loses command when that happens. Between starts, Rothschild will get Zambrano to work on slowing down and getting on top of the ball in hopes that will lead to quality pitches in the strike zone.