Lilly's arm, 12-hit attack help Cubs beat Cardinals 9-3

ST. LOUIS -- Ted Lilly worked seven solid innings, recorded his 1,000th strikeout and added his second career extra-base hit, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 9-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

Mike Fontenot hit a three-run homer and had a career-best four RBIs for Chicago, which finished with 12 hits and won for only the third time in nine games. Geovany Soto had a two-run double in a six-run fourth.

Kyle Lohse (3-1) faced 10 batters in the fourth and allowed eight runs overall in six-plus innings, entering the game with a 2.36 ERA and exiting at 3.79.

Albert Pujols hit his sixth homer for St. Louis and has reached base in all 31 games, two shy of his career-best start in 2005. Yadier Molina also went deep.

Lilly (2-4) hit a season best for innings, allowing three runs and six hits. He is 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in his last three starts, recovering from an 0-3 record and 9.16 ERA his first four outings.

Lilly struck out four, giving him 1,002 for his career, and walked none.

Kosuke Fukudome had a pair of doubles among his three hits and drove in two runs. The Cubs had a season-high six doubles.

Seven straight Cubs reached safely with one out in the fourth, with Lohse unraveling after giving up hits to Lee and Fukudome after being ahead 0-2 in the count against both. Fukudome doubled off the base of the right-field wall for an RBI and Soto had a two-run double before Fontenot hit a three-run drive into the St. Louis bullpen for a 6-0 lead.

Fukudome was elevated to the cleanup spot from fifth with Aramis Ramirez nursing a sore left wrist after getting hit by a pitch on Friday. Ramirez could be back in the lineup on Sunday.

The Cubs batted around again in a three-run seventh with Lilly's leadoff double chasing Lohse and the rest of the damage off Russ Springer. Soriano and Fukudome had RBI doubles and Fontenot walked with the bases loaded.