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Lilly, Soriano lead Cubs past Pirates

Jul 8, 2007 - 3:18 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Chicago Cubs are rolling.Ted Lilly tossed 7 1/3 strong innings and Alfonso Soriano had three hits, two runs and an RBI to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 7-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

Ryan Theriot also had three hits and drove in a run for the Cubs, who have won 12 of their last 15 contests.

"I think everybody had a good approach tonight," Theriot said. "We kind of went in and stuck to our game plan. We started to see some back-to-back hits. That's how you win ballgames, how you score runs. Guys got hits with runners in scoring position, capitalized and got the job done."

Lilly (8-4) allowed one run, eight hits and one walk while striking out six en route to his his third consecutive win.

"I think I was working really well with (catcher Koyie Hill)," Lilly said. "He was doing a good job behind the plate. I felt pretty comfortable knowing he had a pretty good game plan and a pretty good feel for the hitters tonight."

Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy was impressed with Lilly's effort.

"Through the first six innings of the game, his mix of pitches and his command of both sides of the plate was maybe as good as we've seen this year," Tracy said.

Soriano set the tone when he led off the first inning with an infield single off Pirates starter John Van Benschoten (0-3). The All-Star stole second, advanced to third on a single by Theriot and scored on a base hit by Derrek Lee.

Former Pirate Daryle Ward followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.

The Cubs blew open the game in the third, when Van Benschoten issued walks to Lee and Ward before giving up an RBI single to Mark DeRosa. Hill lifted a sacrifice fly and Lilly helped his own cause by following with a run-scoring base hit to open a 5-0 bulge.

The hit by Lilly chased Van Benschoten, who lasted just 2 2/3 innings. He surrendered five runs, seven hits and three walks in his shortest outing in five starts since joining the rotation on June 16.

"They just seemed to find the holes and balls went where they wanted them to go," Van Benschoten said. "I define it as a tough one tonight. It's tough to swallow and it's going to be tough because now you've got the All-Star break to think about that last start you had before the All-Star break, so it's frustrating."

John Wasdin relieved Van Benschoten but was not much better as the Cubs tacked on two more runs in the fifth.

Jacque Jones doubled and scored on the third single of the game by Soriano, who crossed the plate on Theriot's third base hit.

Ronny Paulino had three hits and Jack Wilson drove in the lone run for the Pirates, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.