Cubs soar into first place

As if facing Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols isn't frightening enough, Cubs starter Rich Hill had to back off the mound in the fourth inning Friday when a low-flying fighter jet practicing for the Chicago Air and Water Show buzzed Wrigley Field.

"I wasn't expecting that," Hill said. "I thought flyovers were before the game."

That's all that rattled Hill in a magnificent performance as he pitched 3-hit ball over 7 innings to get the 2-1 victory in the opener of this four-game series with St. Louis.

Pujols wound up singling in that at-bat, then homered off Hill in the sixth. But a 2-run homer by Jacque Jones in the bottom of the sixth on a 3-2 pitch from Braden Looper (10-10) was the difference in the game.

Hill struck out seven and evened his record to 7-7.

The victory, combined with Milwaukee losing to Cincinnati 8-3, vaulted the Cubs into first place in the NL Central, a half-game ahead of the Brewers. St. Louis is 3 behind the Cubs.

"That was 7 really good innings of baseball," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella. "He used all his pitches. He had his curveball working, he used his changeup effectively, and he pitched to both sides of the plate with his fastball. Just a really nice pitching performance."

No doubt it was the kind of effort Piniella had in mind a few weeks ago when he mentioned Hill as one of the starters that needed to pick it up.

"If this team is going to do what we want to do, then we're going to need him to pitch like that," said teammate Ryan Theriot, who had 2 of the Cubs' 4 hits, including a single that preceded Jones' home run. "He threw his pitches with commitment and battled."

Hill got plenty of help from Jones and from Bob Howry and Ryan Dempster out of the bullpen.

Not only did Jones hit the clutch home run, he made a leaping catch into the vines in center field in the fifth inning to rob Brendan Ryan of extra bases.

"That was a tough play, battling the sun and the ivy," Piniella said.

"I got a good jump on it," Jones said. "My only concern was hitting the wall. I kind of rolled into it with my shoulder and my back, and when I turned around my glove was in the ivy."

Jones is on a tear after a miserable start to the season and a near trade to Florida. He has become one of the Cubs' key contributors in their run to the top of the division. He has 13 RBI in his last eight games, 3 homers in the last seven and leads the Cubs with a .360 average and 26 RBI since the all-star break.

"Jacque has played incredible," Theriot said. "Without him right now, I don't know where we'd be."

Howry pitched the eighth inning and got into a bit of two-out trouble when David Eckstein singled and pinch-hitter Rick Ankiel walked. But Howry got Pujols to pop to second baseman Mike Fontenot in short right field for the pressure-packed third out.

"That was a nice bit of pitching by Bob," said Piniella. "They sent up two big left-handed hitters in Ankiel and (Chris) Duncan, and he had to get Pujols with two outs."

Howry said he got Pujols to swing at a fastball away.

"He just got under it," Howry said. "Actually, it probably got too much of the plate."

Dempster worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 18th save and the team's first save since the one Dempster recorded on July 24 in St. Louis.

Before the game, Piniella compared the Cardinals to a freight train coming to town with their five-game winning streak. Now they are 3 games behind the Cubs with three more games to play in the series.

"Winning the first game of a series like this is always big, especially with these guys playing good ball right behind us," Howry said. "But we still have three games left and a lot can happen."