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Lilly, bullpen throw 3-hitter against Reds

Apr 5, 2007 - 4:10 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Ted Lilly gave the Chicago Cubs a good first return on their investment.

Lilly pitched seven strong innings and Aramis Ramirez collected three hits and scored twice as the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-1, earning new manager Lou Piniella his first win with his new team.

Mark DeRosa and Cesar Izturis drove in two runs apiece for Chicago, which finally broke through against Cincinnati All-Star righthander Bronson Arroyo.

Lilly, who a signed a four-year, $40 million deal as a free agent in December, did not allow a hit until Ken Griffey Jr. led off the fifth inning with a single.

"I definitely wanted to get off to a good start," Lilly said. "I pretty much went with Michael's (Barrett) and Larry's (pitching coach Rothschild) game plan because I'm not familiar with these hitters."

The 31-year-old Lilly yielded three hits and surrendered a run on an RBI single by Adam Dunn in the sixth. The lefthander finished with nine strikeouts and also drove in the second run for the Cubs with a groundout in the fourth.

Lilly overcame 39 degree temperatures, snow flurries and an inner ear infection to post his first Cub win.

"It was fun and I feel better," Lilly said. "It took awhile to get loose but I like pitching in cold weather.

Bobby Howry worked a perfect eighth inning and Ryan Dempster worked around a walk in the ninth to record his first save. Dempster, who has 60 career saves all with the Cubs, had control issues to start off the inning prompting a visit from Piniella.

"I told him it's 30 degrees and snowing, Piniella said. "Get the ball over the plate and you'll win a ballgame."

Ramirez singled and scored on a two-run single by Izturis in the fourth. The Cubs third baseman singled and scored on a two-run single by DeRosa in the eighth.

"DeRosa had two big hits," Piniella said.

"Take nothing away from Bronson Arroyo," DeRosa said. "He struck me out with a whiffle-ball slider. After that I was going to get after it. He's a crafty pitcher."

Arroyo, who was 4-0 in five starts against Chicago last season, surrendered four runs, eight hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out nine. It was his first April loss in nearly four years.

"I think I had more room for error today," Arroyo said. "I don't think the hitters were on top of their game because of the weather. I'm sure they had good weather in spring training. You'd think it would bother the Latin guys more, but Ramirez hit me pretty well."

The win was the first in the National League for Piniella since he left Cincinnati for Seattle after the 1992 season.

"Winning the first one helps you relax a little," Piniella said. "We played good defense, got good pitching and hit just enough."