Cubs strike early, top 51s

Geovany Soto went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs Sunday to help the Iowa Cubs to a 9-8 victory over the 51s in a Pacific Coast League game in Des Moines, Iowa.

Luis Maza hit his second and third homers of the season, both solo shots, for Las Vegas (53-62), which lost its fifth straight game. Iowa (64-52) has won four in a row.

Cubs right fielder Felix Pie had a single, walked three times, drove in a run and threw out Choo Freeman at home to limit the damage in the 51s' three-run eighth inning.

Freeman, who finished 3-for-4 with a triple, had a ninth-inning RBI single for Las Vegas, which trailed 7-3 after three innings.

J.R. Mathes (9-6) was the winning pitcher after allowing four runs in five innings. He also had a two-run single. Losing pitcher Eric Cyr (3-2) gave up seven runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Chin-Lung Hu went 4-for-5 with two doubles for the 51s.

The teams play again at 5:05 p.m. today in Des Moines.