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Lilly halts skid, pitches Cubs past Dodgers

Sep 6, 2007 - 5:23 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Ted Lilly had to end his own slump to stop one by the Chicago Cubs.

Lilly worked 6 2/3 solid innings for his first win in nearly a month as the Cubs posted an 8-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.

In winning for the first time since August 9, Lilly (14-7) continually worked out of trouble as he helped the Cubs end a two-game losing streak to Los Angeles.

"I have been working on using my changeup," Lilly said. "Tonight that pitch really gave them something else to think about and seemed to keep them off-balance."

The veteran lefthander tied Carlos Zambrano for the team lead in victories and, more importantly, improved to 8-1 following a Chicago loss. Lilly allowed two runs and six hits, striking out three and walking one.

"The story of the night was Lilly," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "We finally scored some runs. It's nice to beat the Dodgers they have been tough on us."

Aramis Ramirez belted a two-run homer and Mark DeRosa went 3-for-4 for the Cubs (71-67), who maintained a slim half-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers (71-68) in the National League Central Division.

"You just want to have that one big inning," DeRosa said. "That eighth-inning really let us relax a little bit. It's seems like every game we have been up has been so close."

Lilly gave up at least one hit in each of the first five innings, including a pair by his counterpart, Dodgers rookie lefthander Eric Stults.

"It was nice. He (Lilly) gave me some fastballs to hit," Stults said. "Tonight I was better at the plate than I was on the mound."

Chicago grabbed the early lead in the second inning when Craig Monroe doubled with one out and scored on a single by Geovany Soto, who was making just his eighth plate appearance of the season.

"Soto really had a good game for us," Piniella said. "He handled the pitchers well, threw out a runner and swung the bat well."

The Cubs padded the lead in the third inning when Ramirez drilled a pitch from Stults (1-3) into the left field seats with DeRosa aboard for a 3-0 cushion.

"I just couldn't keep my changeup down tonight," Stults said. "That was the pitch Ramirez hit out. The pitch came back right across the middle of the plate."

It was the 20th home run of the season and just the second in the past 19 games for Ramirez.

Stults was making just his fourth start of the season in place of David Wells, who was serving part of a seven-game suspension for arguing with an umpire while he was a member of the Padres.

The Dodgers pulled within 3-1 in the fifth when Mike Lieberthal ripped a one-out double, moved to third on Stults' single and scored on Rafael Furcal's sacrifice fly.

But Chicago knocked Stults from the game in the bottom of the frame. DeRosa doubled with one out and Derrek Lee followed with a single. DeRosa initially held up at third base but right fielder Matt Kemp uncorked a throw to the backstop, allowing him to score with the fourth run.

Scott Proctor relieved Stults and averted further damage. Stults allowed three runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two.

"Stults battled for us tonight," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "We just spotted them some runs and we couldn't recover."

Lilly finally retired the side in order in the sixth and had two outs in the seventh before walking Lieberthal, prompting Piniella to bring in reliever Carlos Marmol.

Pinch hitter Olmedo Saenz greeted Marmol with an RBI double to slice the deficit in half, 4-2.

The Cubs broke it open with four runs in the eighth off a trio of Dodger relievers. The key hits were an RBI double from Ronny Cedeno, a run-scoring single from Jacque Jones and DeRosa's two run-single.

"We rested some people tonight because we had to," Piniella said. "The guys that we put in like Soto and Monroe and Cedeno helped us win a ballgame."