Improvement coming in baby steps

Progress? Well, maybe a little.

But the end results weren't what Ted Lilly and the Cubs were looking for Thursday.

Lilly had his longest outing of the season, pitching 6 innings against the Cincinnati Reds, but he failed again to crack the victory column as the Reds salvaged the finale of this three-game series at Wrigley Field 9-2.

The 32-year-old lefty is 0-3 with a 9.16 ERA after giving up 6 hits and 5 runs in 6 innings. In each of his previous 3 starts, he failed to last as many as 5 innings.

"I thought he pitched better today," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose team fell to 9-6 and saw its winning streak end at three. "I thought it was an improvement. Obviously, the results don't show it, but I think he's on his way."

Lilly agreed, to a point. For all of April, he has suffered from a lack of velocity on his fastball, which showed signs of life Thursday by hitting 90 mph.

"There were times I was throwing the ball a little bit better, but ultimately, the end result is whether we win or lose, and this is my fourth opportunity to help us win, and I haven't been able to do that," he said. "It (the velocity) might have been a little bit better.

"That's not the biggest concern for me. I still feel like I've got to make good pitches and locate the ball well and not focus solely on velocity and use that as a scapegoat or excuse of any kind."

Lilly says he's healthy and that he just needs to build his arm strength.

The Cubs got Lilly a run in the second, but the Reds' Joey Votto hit a 3-run double in the fourth. Lilly had thrown just 34 pitches through the 3 innings, but in the fourth alone, he threw 33.

Votto hit a 2-run homer off Lilly in the sixth to give Cincinnati a 5-1 lead.

The Cubs were very much in the game in the fourth, when Mark DeRosa led off with a walk, and Reed Johnson singled. No. 8 hitter Henry Blanco inexplicably kept trying to bunt, eventually fouling off a two-strike pitch for a strikeout, and the Cubs didn't score.

It turns out a bunt sign never was on.

"We miscommunicated on the first pitch of the at-bat," said third-base coach Mike Quade. "Because of our system of signs, that screwed up the rest of the entire at-bat, whether the bunt was on, the bunt wasn't on, we were playing hit-and-run, we weren't playing hit-and-run.

"Henry is the most reliable guy, one of the most reliable guys on this club. He doesn't miss signs. He gets everything. … After I watch something for two or three pitches, normally I go talk to somebody. But I trust him impeccably. And guess what? It's not out of the realm of possibility that I screwed up as well."

Reds 9, Cubs 2

At the plate: Reed Johnson went 4-for-4, tying his career high for hits. The Cubs got their RBI on a bases-loaded walk by pitcher Ted Lilly and an infield single by Henry Blanco.

On the mound: Lilly fell to 0-3. He gave up 6 hits and 5 runs in 6 innings. Jon Lieber gave up 3 runs (2 earned) in 1 inning.

-- Bruce Miles