CUBS IN BRIEF: Soriano looking good, may return vs. Brewers
''I'm not going to rule it out,'' manager Lou Piniella said Thursday, a day after watching the surprisingly agile Soriano hit and run the bases for the first time since tearing his right quadriceps Aug. 5. ''But let's see what happens over in Arizona because we're going to start -- I'm not saying push him -- but he's going to get a lot of steady work, and we'll see how he feels.''
Piniella has stuck by a general timetable of Sept. 1 or Labor Day for his leadoff hitter's return from the disabled list, but he softened that stance after Soriano's ''amazing'' display in pregame work Wednesday.
''He's about 10 days ahead of schedule where we thought he'd be,'' Piniella said. ''We expected this around the first of September, where he's at now.
''But we've got to be careful. One more problem, and he's out for the year, and we can't afford that. So we're going to be as cautious as we can. I'm going to pay attention to our medical people, and he'll have some input. But at the same time, we want to do what's right for him and what's right for the baseball team.''
''[Ryan] Dempster's our closer, and we'll just go with the other combination of pitchers in setup roles,'' Piniella said, less than two weeks after suggesting Bob Howry and Carlos Marmol would share the ninth inning while Dempster worked whenever necessary to get regular work as he regained his sharpness.
The Cubs had only one save opportunity in a month at that point, but they have had three in the last week, with Dempster converting all three chances. He looked better than he has since shortly before he went on the DL in late June with a strained oblique muscle.
''I wasn't feeling as good command-wise,'' Dempster said of his first few weeks back. ''I'm feeling better now and throwing the ball down in the strike zone.''
And all that talk about closing by committee?
''I knew it would all play out,'' he said.
''I told Barry when I walked by him, 'You're just too good,''' Piniella said. ''And I knew that they had [Dave] Roberts that would probably come in to pinch-run, but I also knew that [Bonds] would be out of the ballgame for later on, too.''
• • Piniella and general manager Jim Hendry have talked briefly about the players they'd like to call up from the minors when rosters expand Sept. 1, and while the list isn't final yet, Piniella said not to expect any surprises. ''It's basically the guys that have been here,'' he said. ''Half a dozen at the most, and people that we're going to be able to use. If we're not going to use them, let's not clutter up the roster.''
• • Kerry Wood's strikeout of pinch hitter Pedro Feliz to end the seventh inning Thursday was No. 1,305 of his career, putting him in a tie with Greg Maddux for fourth in franchise history.
• • The Cubs' next victory will match their total for all of last season.