PHOENIX — The Cubs had a nice week in the middle innings of Tuesday night's game.
Alfonso Soriano belted a three-run homer and Mike Fontenot added a two-run shot to back Carlos Zambrano's seven solid innings as the Cubs overwhelmed the D-backs, 11-3.
Soriano's homer in the third snapped a scoreless tie and sprang the Cubs to the offensive outburst; he later added a run-scoring single for a four-RBI night. Fontenot's blow triggered a four-run fourth that put the game away.
At one stretch across those two innings, 12 of 15 batters reached base against Arizona starter Yusmeiro Petit (0-2) and reliever Jon Rauch.
Zambrano (2-1) allowed eight hits and three runs, and also made his presence felt at bat. He singled in front of Soriano's homer, doubled for a run in the fifth and launched an opposite-field solo homer in the seventh, the 17th of the dual-threat's career.
Soriano and Fontenot had both also homered Monday night, for the Cubs' only runs in a 7-2 loss to Arizona. Soriano's seventh home run of the season put him in a four-way tie for the National League lead with Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez and Raul Ibanez.
Everyone in Chicago's starting lineup had a hit before the end of the fourth, as the Cubs piled up nine runs and 12 hits in innings three through five. That included Milton Bradley, who on his return to the lineup from a groin injury singled and scored on Fontenot's home run. The hit, Bradley's second of the season, snapped his 0-for-15 drought. He added another single in the eighth.