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Cubs beat Braves, lose Soriano

Jun 12, 2008 - 4:23 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Alfonso Soriano won't be around for a while, but that did not stop the Chicago Cubs from dispatching the Atlanta Braves.

Ryan Dempster tossed the first complete game of the season for the Cubs and Kosuke Fukudome homered in a 7-2 win over the Braves on Wednesday.

Chicago's victory took some of the sting out of the prospect of being without leadoff hitter Soriano for an extended period of time. The slugger was hit by a pitch in the second inning, and X-rays revealed a fracture of his left ring finger, which will keep him out of the lineup for four to six weeks.

"Costly loss, losing Soriano, no question," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He was just starting to run the way we thought he would. He was playing well in the outfield and he was hitting the ball for some power. It's a bad break for us. Just an unfortunate thing. They said (Soriano would miss) six weeks.

"We'll probably have to get two kids up here now. We'll see who we bring up. It's a shame. Things happen in baseball. We've got a farm system and we'll utilize it."

Soriano missed two weeks in April with a leg injury and the team did not miss a beat, going 9-5 and averaging over seven runs per game.

"We had two strikes on him by going away and away," Braves catcher Brian McCann said of Soriano's at-bat. "Now we were trying to get a fastball in and it got away from him. I feel really bad for Soriano. There's no chance that we were throwing at him with the count 0-2. The book on him is, if you don't pitch him inside, he'll reach over the plate and kill you. I hope he comes back soon and has a great season."

Dempster (8-2) struck out 11 to improve to 8-0 at Wrigley Field this season. The veteran righthander allowed two runs and four hits en route to his first complete game since 2002, when he was with the Cincinnati Reds.

"That was fun. I had a chance (at a complete game) earlier this year and I didn't get it done," Dempster said. "It was nice to go out there and finish it. What an ovation. The crowd was buzzing and the energy was unreal. To go through everything I've been through ("Tommy John" surgery and a closer's role) and come back as a starter and throw a complete game at Wrigley Field, it was a good experience."

Dempster's strong effort allowed the Cubs to push their winning streak at home to 10 games. They own the best home record in the National League at 28-8 and will go for a sweep of the three-game series against the Braves on Thursday.

"Just a great performance by Dempster," Piniella said. "A complete game. He couldn't pitch any better."

Chicago jumped on top in the first inning on Fukudome's three-run blast. Atlanta starter Jeff Bennett (0-4) retired Soriano and Ryan Theriot but walked Derrek Lee and allowed a single by Aramis Ramirez before Fukudome's fifth homer of the season made it 3-0.

"It was a turning point in the game, right there in the first inning," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "Two out, nobody on, all of a sudden they have three runs on the Fukudome homer. (Bennett's) just go to focus a little better trying to get that third out."

Chicago added a pair in the second, when Theriot - batting after Soriano was forced to leave - doubled home Mark DeRosa and pinch runner Mike Fontenot. Jim Edmonds' two-run single in the third made it 7-0.

"He was missing an 'out' pitch tonight," McCann said of Bennett. "He had a real good fastball and he would get ahead, but he couldn't locate his slider."

Bennett was tagged for all seven runs and seven hits in two-plus innings, walking two and striking out a pair.