Soriano to the Rescue
For the second week in a row, the Cubs put together a Friday-through-Sunday winning
streak to salvage what otherwise could have
been a disastrous week.
This weekend’s victims were the D-backs, who humiliated the Cubs, 13-5, in the opener of
a four-game series on Thursday.
Between Friday and Sunday, however, the Cubs savaged the Arizona pitching staff for 28 runs, and Alfonso Soriano did much of the savaging.
Soriano went 7-for-11, with 10 RBI, two doubles, and four home runs, two of them on Sunday.
By FanGraphs’ reckoning, Soriano’s stickwork was good for a cumulative Win Probability Added of .969 in the three games, i.e., the Cub leftfielder was good for virtually one victory all by himself.
The biggest blow of all was his home run in the sixth inning on Friday, when he tagged Rodrigo Lopez for a three-run shot that converted a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 Cub lead. That home run alone was worth .497 in WPA.
