Cubs win streak ends at 9

SAN DIEGO -- Hey, the Cubs got that "quality start" they'd been looking for from one of their pitchers.

And wouldn't you know? It didn't do them a whole lot of good in a 2-1 loss Wednesday night to the San Diego Padres, snapping a nine-game winning streak.

Ted Lilly gutted out 7½ innings of 7-hit ball, taking 108 pitches into the eighth. A leadoff double to Brian Giles opened the San Diego eighth with the game tied at 1-1.

After Adrian Gonzalez's flyout to left moved up Giles, Cubs manager Lou Piniella brought in Carlos Marmol to pitch, but he gave up a sacrifice fly to Kevin Kouzmanoff. Trevor Hoffman finished the Cubs in the ninth for his 12th save.

"The irony is it's the best game we've had pitched in a long while," said Piniella, whose club hadn't had a quality start since Carlos Zambrano went 8 innings on May 28. "Their guys pitched equally well, in fact, just a tad better. Good ballgame. We just got beat 2-1."

Lilly, who was peeling off a filthy uniform when reporters greeted him, saw his record drop to 5-5. The fact he pitched well seemed little consolation.

"It was a tough one," he said. "I don't know what to say. I made enough mistakes and got out of some jams. It's one of those games where eventually you can only escape so many times."

Lilly served up a home run to Scott Hairston leading off the first, but he settled down after a shaky inning.

Edgar Gonzalez followed with a double, and Giles walked. But Lilly got Gonzalez on a 4-6-3 double play before he struck out Kouzmanoff.

The Cubs (38-22) were up against former teammate Greg Maddux (3.48 ERA), who was working quickly and throwing strikes. He turned in 7 innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball, throwing only 69 pitches in getting a no-decision.

"Doggie threw the ball good," said Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, referring to "Mad Dog" Maddux. "We just couldn't get anything going. It seemed like we made a lot of quick outs, and he kept his pitch count down. That's the last thing you want with him on the mound."

Maddux retired the first nine Cubs before Alfonso Soriano led off the fourth with a single. After Soriano stole second base, Ryan Theriot lined a single to right, with Soriano stopping at third. Lee picked on the first pitch and drove to it right for a sacrifice fly that tied the game.

That was it, and the Cubs take their first-place act up the road to L.A. tonight.

"Look, we had a nine-game winning streak; we've been playing good baseball," Piniella said. "Give their team credit tonight for pitching awfully well. So hopefully, we'll get another good-pitched game by (Ryan) Dempster and start a new streak -- a win streak, that is."