Soriano Out a Month

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Aug 7, 2007 1:32PM

Is that a goat we hear bleating? Because no sooner do the Cubs climb into a tie with the Brewers for the NL Central lead, they lose one of their top sluggers to injury.

Alfonso Soriano landed on the disabled list on Monday, after tearing his right quadriceps in Sunday night's game against the New York Mets. Attempting to run from first to third on a Ryan Theriot single in the third inning, he came up lame and tried to hop into third before being thrown out.

Diagnosed with a one-centimeter tear in his right quad, Soriano was placed on the 15-day DL — the first trip to the DL in Soriano's career. However, he's expected to miss about a month. Lou Piniella said he hoped to have Soriano back in the lineup around Labor Day.

In the heat of the playoff hunt and suddenly without their top hitter, will Cubs GM Jim Hendry pull any deals to land a replacement? With the recent passing of the non-waiver trading deadline, Hendry could have real difficulty landing anybody he'd want. He claims that he believes a combination of young players, including the new Iowa call-up Eric Patterson (Corey's brother), can pick up the slack.

On the other hand, Chicagoist can think of one player who's available and might make it through waivers for the Cubs to pick up ....

Photo by AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh.