CHICAGO -- Mark DeRosa played second, third, shortstop, right field, first base and made one start in left field last year for the Cubs. He may be called upon to don his super sub cape and fill in at left if Alfonso Soriano is sidelined for an extended period of time.

Soriano had to leave Tuesday night's game with a strained right calf, and he underwent an MRI later in the night. Results were expected Wednesday, and the Cubs could call up someone from the Minor Leagues in time for Game 2 of their three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds. If not, DeRosa will likely start.

"I asked him if he could play left field, and he said, 'I sure can,'" Cubs manager Lou Piniella. "He's very valuable in that he can play a lot of positions."

Soriano was injured while catching the final out of the first inning, and DeRosa moved from second to left.

"You do what you have to do," DeRosa said. "Obviously, we hope Soriano isn't out for an extended period of time. Lou asked me if I could play left, I knew they wanted to get [Mike] Fontenot's bat in the lineup against [Aaron] Harang, so what are you going to do?"

You nod, and trot out to left field.

"I said that in Spring Training -- there's no problems in moving around and doing what's best for the team," DeRosa said. "I just want to find my name in the lineup."

He made a running one-handed grab of Joey Votto's fly ball in the fourth inning, and had to deal with some ribbing from the fans in the left-field bleachers.

"I'm sure I'll have to go over some of the fundamentals of the position," DeRosa said. "Ultimately, you catch the ball. I told the fans out there it's not going to look pretty but I'll get it done.

"All that matters is making the play," he said. "It's the first time I've been out there in a long time. I can remember days in Atlanta, being rushed into service out there. It's like playing the left side and then going to the right side of the infield. The game looks like it's happening from a different side of the universe for a while. It's nothing we can't work on."

No offense to DeRosa, but Piniella is keeping his fingers crossed that Soriano won't be sidelined.

"It was a freak thing that happened," Piniella said of the injury. "I thought it was a cramp initially. When he was helped in and I talked to him, I knew it was a little more than that."

One other player whom the Cubs are keeping an eye on is center fielder Felix Pie. he struck out three times Tuesday night, and is batting .154.

"We've got to get him to swing the bat a little bit," Piniella said of the young left-hitting outfielder, who missed most of the series in Philadelphia to avoid facing their left-handed pitchers. Pie will continue to hit eighth, even though it's a tough spot in the order with the pitcher behind him.

"Part of the education of hitting in the big leagues is being able to decipher balls from strikes," Piniella said. "If you can learn to work the count in the eight hole and take pitches and work the count, it's much to your advantage as a hitter.

"Obviously, if he can do that, I can move him to the two-hole," said Piniella, who would then drop Ryan Theriot to eighth in the order. "Up here, you have to swing at strikes. In the eighth, they'll test you a little bit but that's part of the learning experience."

Pie does have to be careful. He crashed into the outfield wall in the Reds fourth Tuesday night after catching Paul Bako's fly ball, and slammed his left hand into the brick.

Pitching matchup
CHC: RHP Carlos Zambrano (1-1, 3.20 ERA)
Zambrano didn't have an overpowering fastball and struggled against the Phillies in his last start. The right-hander gave up five runs on nine hits over six innings while striking out six. He said something was wrong with his fastball. Maybe it was the lack of coffee. That was his first decaffeinated start. He has been asked to cutout the caffeine to avoid dehydration, which may be causing the cramping in his arms. "I think it was a game where he didn't feel real strong," pitching coach Larry Rothschild said of Zambrano's last start. He was 2-4 with a 5.30 ERA against the Reds last season.

CIN: RHP Josh Fogg (1-1, 7.00 ERA)
Fogg was much better in his second start as a Red than his debut. In five innings against the Brewers, he gave up three runs, one earned, on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. In his first start, Fogg frequently started hitters with ball one. Against the Brewers, he retired 14 of his first 16 batters, and threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of 20. His one mistake was Ryan Braun's fourth-inning homer. Fogg was moved back a day to keep Harang on schedule, and will work on six days' rest.

Tidbits
Rich Hill will be back in the Cubs' rotation on Friday, opening the series against the Pirates. Hill had a good side session Monday on the off-day with Rothschild. ... DeRosa now has hit home runs in back-to-back games nine times in his career. ... Ryan Dempster's single in the second inning was his first hit since April 11, 2005. ... Tuesday's game was the 30th April night game at Wrigley in team history. ... The Driscoll Catholic High School football state champs will sing the seventh-inning stretch Wednesday. Actor Tom Arnold will lead the crowd on Thursday, and Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould will do so on Saturday. Actress Bonnie Hunt will sing Sunday, with former Cubs Ron Santo on Monday and Doug Glanville on Tuesday. ... Last week marked the first time the Cubs won three extra-inning games in the same week since Sept. 24-29, 1995. ... Mark Holliman threw six shutout innings but did not get a decision in Iowa's 5-4, 12-inning win over Nashville. Holliman struck out six. Jake Fox drove in the game-winning run with a RBI single. ... Dae-Eun Rhee threw six scoreless innings and improved to 3-0 in Peoria's 4-0 win over West Michigan. He now has a 0.56 ERA.

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Up next
• Thursday: Cubs (Ted Lilly, 0-2, 9.95) vs. Reds (Edinson Volquez, 1-0, 0.87), 1:20 p.m. CT
• Friday: Cubs (Rich Hill, 0-0, 5.00) vs. Pirates (Ian Snell, 2-0, 3.93), 1:20 p.m. CT
• Saturday: Cubs (Jason Marquis, 0-0, 5.23) vs. Pirates (Tom Gorzelanny, 1-1, 6.75), 12:05 p.m. CT