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Cubs bounce back behind Lilly

Aug 2, 2008 - 8:52 PM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Ted Lilly got the Chicago Cubs back on track following a sluggish performance.

Lilly allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings and Reed Johnson recorded three hits Saturday, leading the Cubs to a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The lefthander scattered six hits with three walks and five strikeouts. With Lilly (11-6) working out of a number of jams, Chicago rebounded from its first home shutout of the season, a 3-0 defeat to the Pirates on Friday in which it hit into four double plays.

"I told our pitching coach (Larry Rothchild) that the way Lilly started, he would be lucky to go four innings," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "His pitch count was high but he is really a tough kid and very resilient. His made some pitches and got through six innings."

Lilly struggled with his control in the second, walking two to load the bases with one out. After striking out Chris Gomez, he had to a chance to get out of the inning against his counterpart, Paul Maholm. But shortstop Ryan Theriot dropped Maholm's grounder in the hole, allowing Ryan Doumit, who led off the inning with a double, to score. Maholm was credited with a single.

The Pirates put two runners on in the fourth, but Lilly got Gomez to ground into an inning-ending double play.

"I felt like I put myself in a lot of bad situations," said Lilly, who was pulled after throwing 111 pitches. "The walks hurt me today but I found a way out of it. The guys getting me runs early really helped out."

"The Cubs, who were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Friday, quickly answered with two runs in the bottom of the second.

Aramis Ramirez started the inning with a double and took third on Johnson's single. Johnson moved to second on a wild pitch after Mark DeRosa struck out, but rookie Geovanny Soto delivered a run-scoring groundout. Chicago took the lead on Ronny Cedeno's two-out RBI single.

In the fourth, Johnson ignited another two-run inning by reaching on a bunt single. Soto's RBI single made it 3-1 and another run scored on Cedeno's double-play grounder.

"It was a case of when I made my pitches, they hit groundball outs," Maholm said. "When I left the ball up, they got hits."

Derrek Lee added a sacrifice fly in the fifth for the Cubs, who improved the best home mark in the major leagues to 40-15.

"We were able to score runs without the home run ball today," Piniella added. "I really don't think we are a home run team , to be honest. The wind was blowing in, which was ideal for the pitchers. We manufactured some runs."

Chicago plays 19 home games in August, its most in a calendar month since 1999.

"After yesterday's loss, it was nice to play a good ballgame today," Johnson said. "I thought Maholm pitched a pretty good ballhgame, but we were able to do the little things to get the job done."

Maholm (7-7) yielded five runs and eight hits in six innings.

"The Cubs had some good at-bats against him," Pirates manager John Russell said. "They found some holes."

Chad Gaudin got the final two outs for the Cubs in the seventh before Bob Howry and Carlos Marmol each followed with scoreless innings.