"Alfonso Soriano homered for the fourth straight game Tuesday night at PNC Park and could tie the all-time franchise record if he hits one Wednesday.

Hack Wilson, Ryne Sandberg and Sammy Sosa are the only Cubs with home runs in five consecutive games, giving Soriano something to shoot for.

Is Soriano's resurgence a byproduct of his work with hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, or does he just have more confidence at the plate?

"I would think you get yourself in bad habits, bad habits allow you not to be too successful, not being too successful makes you lose confidence, so they're all inner-related," manager Lou Piniella said. "But I think it all starts with the mechanics and escalates from there."

Soriano hit his seventh home run in the fourth off Paul Maholm with no one on base. He came to the plate against reliever Evan Meek with two on in the seventh and the Cubs trailing by a run, but struck out after Meek had fallen behind 3-0.

Overall, Piniella said he sees a new Soriano who is more patient at the plate."