• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Lilly dominates as Cubs crush Astros

Sep 15, 2008 - 11:33 PM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Ted Lilly picked up right where Carlos Zambrano left off - for at least six innings.

Lilly took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and led the Chicago Cubs to their third consecutive win, a 6-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday afternoon.

"It was about the sixth inning but I knew even at that point there was a lot of work to do," Lilly said of when he recognized he had a shot at a no-hitter. "It's doesn't get easier as you get closer to it, but I had fun out there."

Zambrano tossed the first no-hitter on a neutral field Sunday and Lilly (15-9) was nearly as impressive at Miller Park in this one. The lefthander allowed a hit and a walk with nine strikeouts over seven innings.

"Lilly had really good stuff out there today," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He competed extremely well - one hit, seven innings, good pitching."

After Reggie Abercrombie reached on Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez's fielding error to lead off the seventh, Mark Loretta broke up the no-hit bid with a base hit to right field.

"My hit was a real small victory there," Loretta said. "The Cubs caught us at a time where we are as low as we could possibly be."

No team has ever tossed no-hitters in consecutive games. St. Louis Browns pitchers Ernie Koob and Bob Groom did accomplish the feat on consecutive days from May 5-6, 1917, but Groom's came in the second day of a doubleheader.

Lilly faced the minimum through the first six frames. His lone walk was to Lance Berkman in the second and he was caught stealing later in the inning.

"He was pretty much locked in," Chicago catcher Geovany Soto said of Lilly. "He was able to move his fastball around the plate and his off-speed stuff was pretty good as well. He really kept the Astros off balance."

Lilly also reached the 15-win mark for the third consecutive season.

"That's important but, once you do that, you want 16 and then you want 17," Lilly said. "I try to get a little better every year, that is my goal."

Derrek Lee and rookie Soto each blasted a two-run home run in the sixth to give Chicago a 6-0 lead. Lee sent a 1-0 offering from Astros starter Chad Moehler (11-7) over the left-center field wall and Soto hit another shot to left off reliever Chris Sampson.

Jim Edmonds also homered for the Cubs (90-58), who have opened up an eight-game lead over the struggling Milwaukee Brewers (83-67) in the National League Central.

The Astros have managed just one hit over the last two contests and went 15 consecutive innings without a hit. Before Loretta's seventh-inning single, the club's last hit came in the eighth inning of Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Before this series was relocated to Milwaukee due to Hurricane Ike, which passed through the Houston area this weekend, the Astros had won 14 of their previous 15 games. They then were forced to play home games in Milwaukee in front of a pro-Cubs crowd.

"I think we will snap out of this, things were abrupt yesterday even getting to the airport was a struggle," Houston owner Drayton McClain said. "I think our team's thoughts were back with there immediate families and friends.

"This is the last two weeks of baseball, and we have a terrific opportunity to win the wild card."

Houston, which trails the Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies by 2 1/2 games for the NL wild card, got on the scoreboard in the eighth on David Newhan's sacrifice fly.

"My message to the team was that these games are over and done with," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "The Cubs just outplayed us and out hit us, we have to try and regroup."

Moehler lasted five-plus innings, surrendering five runs on six hits and a walk with four strikeouts.