Cubs' offense falls fast asleep

WASHINGTON -- On a cool, dreary day in the nation's capital, the Cubs' offense nodded off for an afternoon nap.

Before Cubs hitters woke up, the Washington Nationals stole away with a 2-0 victory Sunday to take two of three in this series.

The Cubs managed just 4 hits against Nationals lefty John Lannan, and the Washington bullpen held the Cubs at bay for the final two innings.

It wasn't the first time on this 2-3 road trip that the Cubs lost a game because they couldn't cash in on opportunities.

"I think we're going to have a few more before the year is over, too," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose first-place team fell to 16-9. "You capitalize, you don't lose. When you don't capitalize, you lose."

The Cubs had their best chance for some capitalization in the fifth, when they got their first hit. In fact, they had 3 of their 4 hits for the day in that inning but couldn't score, despite the Nationals' best efforts to help them.

It began when Ronny Cedeno and Henry Blanco opened with singles. With pitcher Ted Lilly up, Nats catcher Wil Nieves threw behind Cedeno at second attempting to get him as he strayed well off the bag.

Cedeno kept on going and slid in safely at third, with Blanco taking second. Lilly struck out, but the Cubs looked to be in business when Reed Johnson reached on an infield hit to the right side, sliding under the tag of Nick Johnson.

Cedeno held at third, bringing Ryan Theriot to the plate. However, Theriot swung at the first pitch and grounded into a 6-3 double play.

"No, I didn't hit it where I wanted to hit it," Theriot said. "Try to hit it hard. Don't hit into a double play."

The Cubs put runners on second and third in the sixth with one out, but Mark DeRosa and Cedeno grounded out.

"We had a few chances and didn't do much," Piniella said. "Bases loaded and one out. Double-play ball. Second and third. That was the story of the ballgame."

The one bit of good news for the Cubs was that Lilly turned in his second straight quality start by working 6 innings and giving up 4 hits and both Washington runs. Singles by Wily Mo Pena and Nieves drove in the only runs of the game in the second.

"The pitch to Pena is definitely one I'd like to take back," Lilly said. "I had 0-2 on an aggressive hitter, throwing a strike. I think I've given up too many 0-2 hits this year for a couple different reasons. That's a situation I could have avoided that, I feel."

Lilly's record fell to 1-4, with his ERA falling from 7.30 to a still-high 6.46. Remaining an issue is the velocity on his fastball, which is climbing only into the upper 80s (mph).

"It's a little bit better; it's still erratic," he said. "I don't know. I guess at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you do, really, if you lose. I feel my job as a starting pitcher is to keep up with the other guy. He pitched well. I couldn't do that today.

"What did their guy throw? Not 93, and he pitched 7 shutout innings."

Nationals 2, Cubs 0

At the plate: The Cubs managed just 4 hits, 3 in the fifth inning when they couldn't score. Kosuke Fukudome doubled on a ball that Nats left fielder Wily Mo Pena misjudged, letting it sail over his head.

On the mound: Lefty Ted Lilly had his second straight quality start, pitching 6 innings and giving up 4 hits and 2 runs. He struck out seven and walked two. Lilly threw 108 pitches, 71 strikes. Michael Wuertz and Sean Marshall combined for a scoreless seventh. Kerry Wood went 1-2-3 in the eighth.