Alfonso Soriano is using the Cubs’ latest homestand to show that he’s ready to contribute to the majors’ best offense.

Soriano belted 2 homers to help rookie Sean Gallagher earn his 1st big league win as Chicago beat Pittsburgh 7-4 on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

The Pirates had an immediate chance to score in the top of the 1st inning after Gallagher hit Jason Bay with a pitch (Bay advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch), but Adam LaRoche flied out to Alfonso Soriano in left center field to end the scoring threat.

Soriano put the Cubs ahead for good on the 1st pitch he saw from Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny, hitting a solo homer (7th of season) into the left field bleachers to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Soriano is currently hitting 15 for 32 (.469) on the Cubs’ current homestand with 5 home runs & 12 RBI’s.

3 batters later, Aramis Ramirez hit an RBI groundout which scored Ryan Theriot (who drew a walk) from 3rd base to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.

Geovany Soto immediately followed with a solo homer (8th of season) to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.

Pittsburgh had a chance to cut into Chicago’s lead in the top of the 2nd inning after Gallagher issued a lead-off walk to Xavier Nady.

Doug Mientkiewicz then grounded into a fielder’s choice for the 1st out.

2 batters later, Brian Bixler singled to put runners at 1st & 2nd for Gorzelanny, who flied out to Reed Johnson in centerfield to end the scoring threat.

The Cubs would again rally off Gorzelanny as Mark DeRosa hit a lead-off double which was followed by Johnson’s single to put runners at the corners with no outs.

Gallagher then laid down a successful sac bunt, moving Johnson into scoring position for Alfonso Soriano with 1 out.

Soriano belted Gorzelanny’s 0-1 pitch into the basket in left field for a 3-run homer (8th of season) & gave the Cubs a 6-0 lead. This is Soriano’s first multi-homer game since June 8th, 2007 when he belted 3 home runs against Atlanta during the Cubs’ 9-1 win.

Gallagher’s shutout was lost in the top of the 6th inning after he allowed a double to Nate McLouth & a walk to Jason Bay.

2 batters later, Xavier Nady hit an RBI single to score McLouth from 2nd base to make it a 6-1 Cub lead.

The Cubs immediately got that run back in the bottom of the 6th inning, as Mark DeRosa hit a 1-out solo homer (4th of season) off Gorzelanny to give Chicago a 7-1 lead.

Cubs reliever Bob Howry made the Wrigley Field fans a bit nervous in the top of the 8th inning, as he served up a solo homer to Jason Bay (9th of season) & a 2-run homer to Doug Mientkiewicz (1st of season) to make it a 7-4 Cub lead.

Kerry Wood made sure the home crowd left the ballpark happy, as he recorded a perfect 9th inning for his 9th save of the season.

Sean Gallagher (1-0) picks up his first major league win after pitching 6 impressive innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits. Cubs skipper Lou Piniella said after the game that Gallagher will start on Wednesday night against Houston.

Tom Gorzelanny (3-4) takes the loss after giving up 7 hits on 7 runs (which included 4 home runs) in 6 innings pitched & is now 0-3 this season against the Cubs.

The Cubs temporarily lead the majors with 18 home wins & will look to continue their Wrigley Field magic Saturday afternoon at 12:05 PM cst, as ace Carlos Zambrano (6-1, 2.03) will oppose Pirates lefty Zach Duke (2-2, 4.04).

Zambrano won his last start against the Pirates on September 23rd, 2007 as he pitched 6 shutout innings & struck out 6 during the Cubs’ 8-0 win.

Duke has lost his last 3 starts at Wrigley Field & has not beaten the Cubs there since May 2nd, 2006.

Signing off for now,