Soriano's Homers Lift Cubs Past Reds 8-1

CINCINNATI (AP) _ Alfonso Soriano homered twice and drove in five runs to power the Chicago Cubs to an 8-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night. <br/><br/>Reds ace Aaron Harang left the game

Saturday, July 28th 2007, 9:13 pm

By: News On 6

CINCINNATI (AP) _ Alfonso Soriano homered twice and drove in five runs to power the Chicago Cubs to an 8-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.

Reds ace Aaron Harang left the game after the first inning because of lower back soreness.

The Cubs bounced back from a disappointing loss on Friday, when they scored three runs in the last two innings to tie the game before losing, 5-4, in the bottom of the ninth. They haven't lost more than two consecutive games since June 3, when they snapped a six-game losing streak with a 7-2 win at Milwaukee that sparked a major league-best 32-17 run.

The home runs helped left-hander Sean Marshall earn his first win in five starts since he shut out the Chicago White Sox, 3-0, on June 24. Marshall (5-4) left after giving up Jeff Keppinger's single to lead off the seventh inning. Marshall allowed six hits and one run with one walk and three strikeouts.

Derrek Lee followed Ryan Theriot's one-out walk in the first inning with his 10th home run of the season. The 403-foot shot into the left field seats off of Harang was Lee's second homer in the last three games and fourth in his last eight.

Harang (10-3) had won his last five decisions since losing at Cleveland on May 20. Left-hander Mike Gosling replaced him.

It was Soriano's 17th multihomer game, second of the season. He hit three homers in a 9-1 win at Atlanta on June 8.

Soriano was hitless in his last nine at-bats before driving in Jacque Jones and Jason Kendall with his 17th homer of the season in the second inning. The 422-foot blast into the upper deck in left field was his first homer since July 14 and snapped a tie with Aramis Ramirez for the club lead.

Soriano added a two-run homer in the ninth off Todd Coffey.

The Reds broke up Marshall's shutout in the fourth inning when Norris Hopper scored from third on Brandon Phillips' groundout, but Ramirez responded in the fifth with an RBI double that gave Chicago a 6-1 lead.

Notes: RF Matt Murton was scratched from the Cubs' original starting lineup so that Cliff Floyd could play Saturday night and get Sunday off. ... Reds 1B Jeff Conine put together his second three-hit game in two nights. ... The Reds acquired INF Jorge Cantu, OF Shaun Cumberland and cash from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for RHP Calvin Medlock, LHP Brian Shackelford and future considerations on Saturday. ... Marshall's fourth-inning leadoff double was his first career double. ... Saturday's attendance of 42,365 was the fourth-largest in the five-year history of Great American Ball Park and the largest non-Opening Day crowd. ...