| Catcher Soto has been a rock for Cubs
Chicago (17-11) at St. Louis (18-11), Friday, 7:15 p.m. CT
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
CHICAGO -- Geovany Soto has shown he can not only deliver big hits, but take them as well.
Soto notched his first multi-homer game on Wednesday against Milwaukee, and made a key defensive play Thursday when he survived a head-on collision with Prince Fielder at home plate.
Fielder was safe at second after an error by Reed Johnson, who had bumped into Kosuke Fukudome trying to catch Fielder's fly ball. One out later, Fielder tried to score on Bill Hall's single to right. But Fukudome made a perfect throw home, and Soto held onto the ball to get Fielder despite the collision.
Keep in mind Soto and Fielder are not exactly petite sized. Fielder picked up Soto's mask after the play, and gave the rookie catcher a tap on the back.
Soto drove in six runs on Wednesday, and now holds the all-time club record for RBIs in April for a Cubs rookie with 20. What has impressed his teammates is that he came through after a horrendous stretch over the weekend in Washington when he struck out in eight consecutive at-bats.
"I think it shows how hard it is to play this game," Cubs backup catcher Henry Blanco said of Soto's resiliency. "We're going to go through days like that. It's up to us how many days you want to go and do that.
"He's impressed everybody. I know what he can do. He showed everybody last year. I'm looking forward to seeing him do that every day."
Blanco is a mentor to Soto, and the young catcher relies on him heavily.
"I tell him to do the best he can," Blanco said. "I think the guys here appreciate what he's done. We'll help him out the best we can."
The veteran sees nothing but promise in the young backstop.
"He's going to be great," Blanco said. "He's going to show he belongs here for a lot of years and he's going to carry this team all the way. He's taking things the way he's supposed to take them, and he's taken all the responsibility for the pitching staff, which is good, and he's going to keep getting better."
Soto was one of three Cubs to drive in 20 runs in April, also a club record. Derrek Lee holds the club mark for most RBIs in April, driving in 28 in 2005. His 23 RBIs this April rank third all-time. Billy Williams drove in 25 in 1970. Aramis Ramirez is fourth now, knocking in 22 this past month.
Before we get too far ahead in May, let's look back at the successful April the Cubs had.
What a difference a year makes. In April 2007, the Cubs went 10-14, batted .270 and had an on-base percentage of .326.
In the first month this year, the Cubs were 17-10, winning a franchise-record number of games. They hit .286, and had an on-base percentage of .375. The Cubs' 171 runs, 279 hits, 62 doubles, 130 walks, batting average and on-base percentage for the month were all club records.
Including a five-game winning streak from April 5-10 and a six-game run from April 18-23, the Cubs posted a pair of five-game winning streaks within the month for the first time in the franchise's 133-season history.
Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster each won four games, and are the first Cubs duo to do that since Kerry Wood and Mark Prior both went 4-1 to open the 2003 campaign.
The only National League teams to win more games in April? The St. Louis Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks. And the Cubs clash with the Cardinals for the first time this season, starting Friday at Busch Stadium.
Pitching matchup
CHC: LHP Rich Hill (1-0, 3.79 ERA)
Hill was skipped in the rotation to give him extra time for side work, to keep the other starters on a five-day rotation and to have him avoid the Brewers. The Cubs want the lefty to be aggressive in his approach and he's shown improvement. He won his only start against the Cardinals last season, giving up one run in seven innings. Hill did spend some time in the bullpen as a backup this week in case of emergency.
STL: RHP Adam Wainwright (3-1, 2.79 ERA)
Wainwright is the undisputed ace of the Cardinals staff until Chris Carpenter returns. That means, among other things, that he's being worked hard. He's been extremely effective thus far, but he's already been pushed pretty hard twice this year. Wainwright receives an extra day of rest thanks to an off-day, but it will be interesting to see how he recovers from a career-high 126-pitch outing.
Tidbits
On Wednesday, the Cubs scored five or more runs in three or more innings in a game for only the second time since moving to Wrigley Field in 1916. The only other time the team did so at Wrigley was June 23, 1930, when the Cubs scored five in the fourth, five in the sixth and five in the seventh. ... The Cubs were averaging 6.3 runs per game, which is the highest runs-per-game average at the end of April since the 1954 team was averaging 7.6 runs per game through April (in only 10 games). ... The Cubs also have scored at least seven runs in their last six games at Wrigley. That ties the longest home stretch of games with seven-plus runs since they began playing there. The other two times were April 18-23, 1923, and Sept. 1-8, 1929. The last time they scored seven or more in at least seven straight home games was an eight-game stretch, July 31-Aug. 8, 1897, at the West Side Grounds. ... Jeff Samardzija walked six in five innings in Tennessee's 10-6 loss to Jacksonville. Samardzija is 2-2 with a 3.77 ERA. Justin Berg gave up three runs on four hits over 6 1/3 innings in his first start for Triple-A Iowa since being called up from Tennessee. ... Ryan Acosta struck out six over 4 2/3 innings, and did not get a decision in Peoria's 5-4 loss to Dayton.
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