CHICAGO -- In a clubhouse starved for a veteran presence, Alfonso Soriano is embracing the task. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Soriano hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning and the Chicago Cubs snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the slumping Cincinnati Reds on a rain-soaked Thursday night. With an influx of youngsters filling up the Cubs locker room, Soriano knows he is one of the few experienced players his new teammates can turn to. "I have to play hard just because those kids see me, and Im the veteran on the team. So I have to show the kids how to play the game," Soriano said. With the score tied at 3, Reds reliever Sean Marshall (4-4) walked Anthony Rizzo. Just as the skies cleared up, Soriano cracked a two-run shot to centre field off Logan Ondrusek. Shawn Camp (3-5) pitched a perfect eighth for the win and Carlos Marmol worked the ninth for his 14th save in 16 chances. Todd Frazier and Zack Cozart homered for Cincinnati after the start was delayed by rain for 1 hour, 20 minutes. The NL Central leaders lost their fifth straight but remained 2 1/2 games ahead of second-place Pittsburgh. It was Sorianos 20th home run. He joined Albert Pujols and David Ortiz as the only active players with 20 or more homers in 11 straight seasons. "Im very happy with myself," Soriano said. "I never saw myself as a home run hitter, but 11 years in a row, 20 in a row, I have to be very proud of myself." Soriano also joined Hall of Famer Andre Dawson as the only players in Cubs history to reach 20 homers in their first six seasons with the club. "Those kind of guys, they hit. Theyve always hit," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "Thats what they were born to do." Starlin Castro tied it in the sixth with a two-run double off Cincinnati starter Mike Leake. Castro was mired in a 1-for-24 slump before hitting a liner off the centre-field wall. Cubs right-hander Chris Volstad is winless in 22 starts since July 17, 2011. The 25-year-old pitcher allowed three runs and six hits over six innings, including two solo homers. It took 35 pitches for Volstad to work his way out of a two-run first inning. Cozart greeted Volstad with his fourth leadoff home run, capping an eight-pitch at-bat. It was his 13th of the season. Frazier took Volstad deep in the fourth for his 14th homer of the year. Volstad let at least one runner aboard in each inning he pitched, but managed to escape with a quality start. "We scored early and kind of cruised for a while and when you do that any team is going to make a run," Cozart said. "They got a couple of big hits by Castro and Soriano, and we didnt." Leake was charged with three runs in six innings. He struck out five and walked two. "The one pitch to Castro kind of beat me," Leake said. The right-hander cruised through five innings before Castro came through with runners on first and third. Leake had given up nine runs in his last two starts, a span of just 7 2-3 innings. "Nothing mentally changed," Leake said. "I just wasnt attacking them." Rizzo got the Cubs on the board in the first with an RBI single to score David DeJesus. Rizzo reached base four times, including a double to lead off the fourth, but the 23-year-old slugger was too aggressive on the basepaths and was thrown out at third trying to advance on Sorianos groundout. Former first-round draft pick Brett Jackson went 0 for 3 in his home debut for Chicago. NOTES: Cubs C Steve Clevenger was ejected in the fifth for arguing balls and strikes. ... Chicago RHP Matt Garza, out indefinitely with a stress reaction in his right elbow, wants to pitch again this season. "Im hoping to, thats why Im working my tail off to get back," he said. ... The Reds activated C Devin Mesoraco (concussion) from the 7-day disabled list and optioned C Dioner Navarro to Triple-A Louisville. ... Homer Bailey (9-7, 3.98 ERA) pitches Friday for Cincinnati against Justin Germano (1-1, 3.38) in the second game of the four-game set. Cheap Jerseys From China . They have the worst record in baseball and are barrelling toward their second straight 100-loss season. Cheap Jerseys . It was the 42nd-ranked Haases second career title in as many finals. The Dutchman took control of the match after an hour-long rain delay at 1-1 in the second set. Kohlschreiber, who is now 4-3 in career finals, will move into the top 20 for the first time when ATP rankings are updated Monday. http://www.stitchednfl.com/ . Medicals are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, with on-ice workouts beginning Saturday. The Heat, the top farm club of the Calgary Flames, will have 25 forwards, 15 defencemen, and four goalies at camp. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Join our Game Night Blog at 9pm et/6pm pt. The eighth-seeded Kings jumped out to a 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven series before losing Sundays home contest by a 2-0 score. It was just the second loss for Los Angeles in 13 playoff games this postseason and both setbacks have come on the road, L. Cheap NFL Nike Jerseys . Joe Blanton pitched effectively into the eighth inning for his first win with Los Angeles and A.J. Ellis hit his first career grand slam in a 10-8 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.SAN FRANCISCO - On one of the strangest nights in the 13-year history of AT&T Park, Buster Posey provided some normalcy. The teams best hitter over the past two weeks, Posey hit his 13th home run and added an RBI single to back Ryan Vogelsongs first victory in nearly a month while helping the Giants to a 7-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Monday night. "Its hard to put a value on what he means to this club," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "We saw what life was like without him last year but hes done an unbelievable job here the past few weeks finding ways to get the runs in." Posey helped the Giants to their fifth consecutive win at home and kept them 1 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West. It came on a night of unusual plays. There was an overturned call by the umpiring crew, Giants left fielder Melky Cabrera crashed into the stands while catching a foul ball and shortstop Brandon Crawford was ejected for the first time in his career after he had an apparent double wiped out when he allegedly missed first base. "There were a few weird things," said Posey. "Weve had some strange ones lately. We were fortunate to come out on top." Posey, the teams All-Star catcher, is a big reason why. His three-run shot off Padres starter Clayton Richard in the fifth inning was his third home run in 11 games and highlighted a 12-hit night for San Francisco. Since going hitless against Pittsburgh on July 7, Posey has been hot. He went 3 for 4 against San Diego and is batting .512 with 17 RBIs during that stretch. "Im just trying to have a good approach every time out," Posey said. Cabrera and Ryan Theriot added three hits apiece for the Giants, who kicked off their longest homestand of the season. San Francisco also improved to 8-2 since the All-Star break. The Giants scored four times against Richard in the first inning when they also got some help from the umpiring crew. Poseys RBI single opened the scoring and Angel Pagan followed with a bases loaded walk. Posey later scored on Joaquin Arias fielders choice to make it 3-0. Crawford then hit a sinking line drive that Padres left fielder Mark Kotsay caught for the third out. Television replays appeared to show Kotsay trapping the ball, and Bochy came out to dispute the call as both teams left the field. After a brief meeting, the umpires changed the decision and ruled it a hit. That forced the Padres back onto the field, and Pablo Sandoval, who was on third, was awarded home plate to push the Giants lead to 4-0. "In a nutshell, when they convened three of four had the ball short-hopped," San Diego manager Bud Black said. Third base umpire Dana DeMuth "thought he saw it the other way but they talked it over and made the change.ddddddddddddquot; Crawford was also involved in another disputed call in the sixth when he hit a one-out double but was called out after the Padres argued that Crawford missed first base and appealed. Two innings later, Crawford was ejected after grounding out to first base when he appeared to say something to first base umpire Jordan Baker. It was about the only mistake the Giants made. Vogelsong allowed one run and four hits over seven innings. The right-hander walked three and struck out six while lowering his ERA to 2.26. Yasmani Grandal had two hits for San Diego, which has lost five of seven games to San Francisco this season. The Padres lost to the Giants for the 16th time in the past 21 games between the two clubs and lost centre fielder Alexi Amarista to a left thumb injury. Amarista was hurt while sliding into the bag after stealing second base in the fifth. He stayed in the game and completed the inning before being replaced by Jesus Guzman. "I think hell be OK," Black said of Amarista. Theriot and Cabrera hit consecutive one-out singles in the fifth before Poseys three-run home run off Richard made it 7-1. Vogelsong (8-4) didnt need much offensive support as it turned out. The Giants right-hander gave up Yonder Alonsos sacrifice fly in the fourth after allowing back-to-back hits to open the inning, but was otherwise stellar while winning for the first time since June 26. Cabrera helped when he fell into the stands while chasing down Kotsays foul ball leading off the seventh. Cabrera jumped just before the short wall and made the catch before being helped to his feet by nearby fans. Richard (7-11) gave up seven runs over five innings in his shortest outing of the season for the Padres. Three of his losses have been against the Giants. NOTES: Sandoval went 1 for 3 with a walk in his first start at first base this season. Bochy made the move because slumping Brandon Belt is mired in a 2-for-32 funk. ... San Diego OF Carlos Quentin was rested a day after agreeing to a $27 million, three-year contract. ... Padres RHP Tim Stauffer (strained right elbow) threw his first bullpen session since going on the DL on May 15 and is scheduled for a second session Wednesday. If he makes it through without a setback, Stauffer will head to Peoria to continue his rehab in the minors. ... Padres OF Cameron Maybin remains day to day because of a sore right wrist but the team is optimistic about his progress. ... Giants OF-1B Aubrey Huff is sidelined with tendonitis in his injured right knee and is "not real close" to returning, Bochy said. ... San Diego RHP Edinson Volquez takes a 6-7 record into Tuesdays game against San Francisco LHP Madison Bumgarner (11-6). ' ' '