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Hill leads Cubs' rout over Brewers

Apr 7, 2007 - 5:48 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- On a night that Rich Hill didn't need to be perfect, he tried anyway.

Hill flirted with a perfect game for five innings and the Chicago Cubs scored six times in the first frame en route to a 9-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Corey Hart ended the lefthander's bid for perfection by leading off the sixth with a no-doubt home run to left-center field. It was the only hit Hill (1-0) yielded in seven innings.

"If you give it up, that's the way to do it," said Hill, who struck out seven and did not walk a batter. "If something like (a perfect game) happens, let's face it, it's pretty special. Everything had to be aligned the right way for that to happen. I wasn't thinking about it."

"I just guessed right," Hart said of his first home run this season. "You hope you can battle and get some runs to get back in it, but he was doing such a good job, it was kind of tough."

Hill said he received a fair amount of help from catcher Michael Barrett.

"Michael did a great job behind the plate today, all game," he said. "He was calling changeups at the right time. We were on the same page the whole time. A lot of credit to him."

Run support was not an issue for Hill.

Mark DeRosa highlighted the first-inning uprising with a two-run homer off Milwaukee starter Dave Bush (0-1). Aramis Ramirez, Cliff Floyd and Barrett also drove in runs in the first frame.

"That was about as bad as it could have gone in that first inning," Bush said. "Mostly, I just didn't make pitches and left fastballs up in the zone. There's not a whole lot more to it than that."

Bush pitched effectively thereafter, leaving after six innings. The righthander allowed six runs and eight hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

"We came out and played the way we're capable of playing," Floyd said. "We got on him early, and I'm glad we got him early because he settled down after that. It was a good win for us and I'm really happy with the way Rich pitched the ball today."

Ronny Cedeno homered and Floyd and Barrett drove in two runs apiece for the Cubs, who outhit the Brewers, 13-5.

Kevin Mench had two RBI for Milwaukee.