Soriano silences Cubs' fans

Cubs chairman Crane Kenney said yesterday the team did not tell security personnel in the leftfield bleachers to crack down on fans who might boo or harass struggling outfielder Alfonso Soriano.

Fans had little reason to jeer him last night as he singled in the winning run in the 10th inning and the Cubs beat the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1, to complete a three-game sweep.

On Sunday, Soriano dropped a fly ball in the ninth inning in Pittsburgh, helping the Pirates rally to a victory. One season-ticketholder told the Chicago Tribune that crowd control personnel told fans Monday they were instructed by supervisors to use a no-tolerance policy for anyone cursing at Soriano, or harassing him.

"The rules have not changed in the ballpark, which have consistently been booing is part of the game and anything related to booing. But profanity and anything racial is not allowed, regardless of where it happens in the ballpark," Kenney said before last night's game.

"What I'm hearing from our security staff is that the booing hasn't been significant nor has anyone been talked to. So I'm not really sure where this issue comes up."

In other games:

* At Cincinnati, David Ross had four RBI, including a two-run homer to lead the Reds to a 9-1 win over Pittsburgh.

* At Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks delivered a run-scoring triple in the eighth inning to make a winner of Jeff Suppan (3-4), and lead the Brewers to a 1-0 win over Atlanta.

* At St. Louis, Adam Wainwright (5-2) struck out eight over eight innings and Yadier Molina knocked in two runs to help lead the Cardinals over Houston, 6-1.

* At New York, Fernando Tatis' two-run double in the 12th inning led the Mets to a 6-5 win over Florida.

* At San Diego, Jesus Flores hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to lead Washington to a 6-4 win over the Padres.

* At Phoenix, Ray Durham had a solo home run and a three-run double to lead San Francisco to an 11-3 win over Arizona.

* Minor league catcher Humberto Cota was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. He was penalized under the major league drug program, even though he has not been on a major league roster since last June 15, when he was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

* The Cincinnati Reds optioned leadoff hitter Corey Patterson to Triple A Louisville to help him work on his swing. He is in an 0-for-18 slump and hitting .200.

* Bret Boone has decided to retire again after a brief minor league stint in the Washington Nationals' farm system. Boone batted .261 in 13 games for the Triple A Columbus Clippers before leaving the team April 17.

* New York Mets outfielder Ryan Church, who suffered his second concussion this season last week in Atlanta, will not rejoin the team for several days.

* Righthanded reliever Jorge Sosa, released a week earlier by the New York Mets, signed a minor league contract with the Houston Astros. *