Lilly pitches Cubs to 3-1 win over Diamondbacks
By RICK GANO,
AP Sports
Posted: 2008-05-09 17:15:03
CHICAGO (AP) -Ted Lilly kept his glove on his hand this time.
Lilly gave up another homer to Chris Young, but instead of throwing a
tantrum on the mound the left-hander led the Chicago Cubs over Arizona 3-1
Friday in the first meeting between the teams since the Diamondbacks'
first-round sweep in last year's playoffs.
Young homered off Lilly in Game 2 last October in Phoenix during Arizona's
8-4 win, prompting the Lilly to slam his glove on the pitcher's mound in
frustration, a move seen more often among Little Leaguers than big leaguers.
This time Lilly surrendered a first-inning solo homer to Young, then gave up
just two hits over the next six innings. Lilly (3-4) struck out 10 against the
team with the best record in the majors (23-13) and also drove in the tying run
off Dan Haren with a fifth-inning single.
Carlos Marmol got out of the eighth with the help of a strange double play
when Arizona's Eric Byrnes was called for interference when his backswing
apparently struck catcher Geovany Soto. Kerry Wood pitched the ninth for his
sixth save in nine chances. On a chilly 46-degree day at Wrigley Field, the
Cubs won for just the fifth time in 14 games.
Dan Haren (4-2), Arizona's big offseason acquisition in a trade with
Oakland, yielded two runs and five hits in seven innings.
Mark DeRosa hit a liner off Haren's glove in the third and when the
Diamondbacks' right-hander chased the ball behind the mound, DeRosa beat his
throw with a slide for an infield single - Chicago's only hit in the first four
innings.
Chicago didn't get another until the fifth, when DeRosa doubled with two
outs.
After the Diamondbacks intentionally walked Reed Johnson to get to Lilly - a
.124 career hitter entering the game - he smacked a 1-0 pitch up the middle for
an RBI single. Struggling Alfonso Soriano, who'd been booed after grounding out
in his previous at-bat, followed with an RBI double past third for a 2-1 lead.
Derrek Lee, in a 4-for-28 slump, homered off reliever Juan Cruz to make it
3-1 in the eighth.
Notes:@ Diamondbacks 2B Orlando Hudson sat out with a sore right hamstring but
could play this weekend. ... 1B Connor Jackson, who had to leave Wednesday
night's game against the Phillies after a collision at first left him with a
headache, returned to the lineup. ... In a start at Wrigley Field for St. Louis
on June 10, 2004, Haren allowed 10 hits and 10 runs in 3 2-3 innings. ... The
Cubs activated LHP Scott Eyre (sore left elbow) from the disabled list and
optioned LHP Sean Marshall to Triple-A Iowa. ... Lilly reached double digit
strikeouts for the 11th time in his career. His most in one game was 13 against
the Red Sox in 2004 when he pitched for the Blue Jays.
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05/09/08 16:14 CDT