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Lilly pitches Cubs past Cardinals

Sep 11, 2008 - 4:15 AM By Thad Kemlage PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- A gem by Ted Lilly and one big inning helped the Chicago Cubs down the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3, on Wednesday.

Lilly (14-9) came up with one of his best outings of the season, allowing one run and five hits in eight innings. The lefthander did not give up a hit after the fourth and retired 12 straight batters at one point.

"(Lilly) kept his composure on that mound and really pitched eight wonderful innings of baseball and gave us a chance to win the game," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.

"I felt good the whole game, and it was nice to go out there and redeem myself after the last outing I had in Cincinnati," Lilly said, referring to his last start in which he lasted two innings and gave up five runs. "I needed to do that."

St. Louis rallied against Kerry Wood in the ninth as Albert Pujols delivered a one-out double and Ryan Ludwick followed with his 33rd home run of the season, cutting the deficit to 4-3. But the closer retired the next two batters to preserve the win and notch his 29th save.

Despite throwing only 90 pitches, Lilly understood Piniella's decision to go to the bullpen in the ninth.

"I can understand where he's coming from," Lilly said. "We need to keep Woody going, and I think the more he pitches, the better he is going to be."

The Cubs scored all four of their runs in the second inning on four hits and two errors. Felix Pie capped a string of three straight singles to start the frame with an RBI base hit to left field that plated Kosuke Fukudome with Chicago's first run.

"We came out with a lot of intensity and we've just got to maintain it for nine innings," Piniella said. "I guess the best way to do that is to get some hits with men on base."

Cardinals third baseman Felipe Lopez then made an error on each of the next two plays, including an errant throw on Alfonso Soriano's grounder that allowed two runs to score.

"It was a tough inning," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "There were a lot of tough plays, no routine plays, but that's part of baseball."

Lopez was filling in at third for Troy Glaus, who missed the game with a strained right shoulder.

Aramis Ramirez singled home Soriano, who reached base four times, for the fourth and final run.

Braden Looper (12-12) took the loss, giving up four runs - one earned - and eight hits in five innings.

"In the second inning, I let the first two guys on, and after that, it just seemed like they found the holes every time it touched the bat," Looper said. "So you've just got to continue to battle and try and make pitches."