The Daily Closer: Blue Monday, Oh, Blue Monday

Notes from a day in baseball:

• Down Goes Soriano! Which is America's most tortured sports town? Buffalo has never won a major championship in any sport, then there's Seattle, Cleveland, Philadelphia ... but when it comes to baseball, it's hard to overlook the North Side of Chicago. (Not that we mind, of course.) The picture above is a fine metaphor: That's $136 million worth of center fielder there on his butt. Poor Lou. Reporters may enter his office one day for interviews and find only a pile of dust with a cap. Alfonso Soriano has a pulled hammy, and you really hate to see that. It happened in the fifth when he attempted a diving catch; the Cubs went on to beat the Padres 12-4. Chicago was 0-7 against the Padres last season, by the way, so that's something. Jason Marquis (1-1), the Cubs' other big acquisition, allowed one run over six innings to win for the first time in three starts. Chins up, Cubs fans. Your latest player setback occurred during a win.

• This Bold Renegade Marks A Z For His Name. With Barry Bonds honoring Jackie Robinson a day late (Sunday's game between the Giants and the Pirates was rained out), Barry Zito stole the show against the Rockies. Zito is back, folks. He threw a three-hitter over six innings to lead San Francisco over Colorado 8-0, his first win for the Giants. Bonds was one of five San Francisco players and coaches to wear Robinson's No. 42.

• Happy Patriots Day. Meanwhile, Josh Beckett loves April ... even when his scheduled start is pushed back two hours due to rain. The Red Sox hurler won his third straight, as Boston beat the Angels 7-2. In six innings, he gave up six hits, struck out five and walked one. Howie Kendrick homered against Red Sox reliever Kyle Snyder in the ninth.

• The Wisdom Of Salomon. Salomon Torres, who had a loss and a blown save during St. Louis' three-game sweep in Pittsburgh last week, got Albert Pujols to foul out with the bases loaded for the final out in a 3-2 victory on Monday. Ian Snell threw seven strong innings for the win.

• Chico Is The Man. Before a massive throng of 16,313 in 40-degree temperatures, Matt Chico earned his first major league win with the following line: 5.0 4 1 1 5 0 0. Yes that's five walks, no strikeouts. But the Nationals have their first winning streak of the season after a 5-1 win over the Braves, and have won three of their past four. Take that, terrorists!