Lilly earns 100th win, leads Cubs over Cardinals
One hundred sixty-two seasons.
Former Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little gets credit for describing the ups and downs of a baseball season with the New England faithful.
It's not much different in Cubdom.
After the gloom and doom of Friday's messy 8-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the sun came back out -- literally and figuratively -- Saturday during the Cubs' tidy 5-2 victory over those same Redbirds.
Starting pitcher Ted Lilly earned career victory No. 100. And the Cubs got contributions from some old hands as well as from a newcomer.
And, hey, if they sweep the Cardinals in today's day-night doubleheader, they'll be just a game-and-a-half out of first place.
"It's a big series," said Lilly, who went 8 innings while improving to 9-6 and lowering his ERA to 3.18. "We didn't play very well yesterday. So, yeah, it was important to go out there and just make fewer mistakes.
"Some guys got some big hits. We had some guys chip in and make some really nice defensive plays."
The Cubs evened their record to 42-42, putting manager Lou Piniella in a relaxed mood while pondering the possibilities of another couple of "seasons" today and tonight.
"We'll see where we are after the second game tomorrow night," Piniella said. "We could be 1ˆ½, 3ˆ½ or 5ˆ½ (out). We'll find out."
The Cubs gave Lilly a 3-0 lead in the first inning, sending eight to the plate against Brad Thompson. The key sequence came when Thompson hit Milton Bradley in the right leg with an 0-2 pitch with the bases loaded.
Jeff Baker, whom the Cubs acquired from the Colorado Rockies on July 2, singled up the middle to score 2 runs. Baker got the start at second base.
"It felt good to get out there and try to get some rhythm and try to help the team win today; that's what it's all about," said Baker, who picked up his first 2 Cubs RBI.
"As a utility guy, there can be stretches where you don't play for a while. I've become accustomed to some days you feel great, you have rhythm and you're playing every day. There's other times where other guys are playing well."
Lilly gave up his only run on Ryan Ludwick's RBI double in the fourth. He cruised into the seventh, when Nick Stavinoha led off with a single.
After Yadier Molina lined out to right, Jarrett Hoffpauir bounced one up the middle. Shortstop Ryan Theriot fielded it and flipped to Baker, who made a barehand catch and throw to turn a double play.
Lilly threw 103 pitches over 8 innings. He seemed to have plenty left in the tank, but Piniella went to the bullpen. Carlos Marmol gave up a run and needed help from Kevin Gregg, who notched his 16th save.
"Before that inning got started, he asked me how I felt about going back out there," Lilly said. "Obviously, I don't get too many opportunities (for a complete game), and I wanted to take advantage of it."
"We were going to send him out, but we had a chance to score some runs, so we pinch hit," Piniella said of the Cubs' eighth. "If his turn wouldn't have come up, we would have sent him out to face the first hitter."