Cardinal Pineiro's 3-hitter blanks Cubs 3-0

Just call it a complete loss for the Cubs on Tuesday night.

Not only did they waste a decent pitching performance by pitcher Ted Lilly (5-3), they didn't give themselves much of a chance against Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro, who polished off the Cubs in just over two hours as he tossed a complete-game, 3-0 victory in the series opener at Busch Stadium.

Colby Rasmus' 2-run homer off Lilly in the fifth turned a 1-0 game into 3-0, and it was all the cushion Pineiro needed.

The Cubs managed just 3 hits and looked most of the night as if they were in a hurry to get to the Landing or one of the other hot spots in St. Louis.

Pineiro (5-3) retired the Cubs in order six times, and the Cubs helped him out by swinging early and often. It was already the third time the Cubs have been shut out this season.

"We haven't been hitting the ball off too many people," Cubs manager Lou Piniella told the media. "Give this young man (Pineiro) credit. He pitched a darn good ballgame. ... It's been a struggle. We're in the middle of May, and we need to get better in a few areas."

The Cubs looked to have something going against Pineiro in each of the first two innings. Alfonso Soriano led off the game with a single, but he was picked off first base by catcher Yadier Molina with No. 2 hitter Ryan Theriot at the plate.

In the second, Derrek Lee opened with a single. He was wiped out when Milton Bradley grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

The Cubs staged a minor threat in the fifth, when the slumping Mike Fontenot doubled down the left-field line with two outs. Fontenot was on a 1-for-30 skid until that hit. Geovany Soto followed with a groundout to end the inning.

Fontenot's hit represented the only Cub to reach among the final 24 batters faced by Pineiro.

Lilly gave up a run in the first. Brendan Ryan led off with a walk. Rasmus sacrificed Ryan to second, and after Albert Pujols popped out, Ryan stole third base and scored on Molina's single.

Rasmus' homer in the fifth came after Ryan singled with two outs.

"I feel like I came in second place," Lilly told reporters after this three-game winning streak ended. "I had an opportunity to try to keep up, which would have been a lot of fun."

Bruce Miles' game tracker

Quality start: Lefty Ted Lilly turned in the 22nd quality start for the Cubs. He worked 7 innings, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs. The big blow was a 2-run homer by Colby Rasmus in the fifth.

Make it snappy: The game took just 2 hours, 5 minutes to play. Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro threw 92 pitches, 64 for strikes, in going the distance.

Only 3: The Cubs got only 3 hits: a single by Alfonso Soriano in the first, a single by Derrek Lee in the second and a double by Mike Fontenot in the fifth.