Right idea, but lefties save the day for Cubs, Piniella
Things turned out all right Thursday for the Cubs only after they made an abrupt left turn.
The result was a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers before a season-low crowd of 33,869 at sunny Wrigley Field.
Manager Lou Piniella left himself open to charges of over-thinking things after he stacked his lineup with right-handed hitters against Dodgers righty John Ely, a south suburban product.
But the Cubs got the only run of the day in the eighth inning off Ely when left-handed batter Mike Fontenot led off with a triple and Tyler Colvin, another lefty swinger, doubled him home one out later.
The Cubs took two of three from the Dodgers to improve to 23-25. For all the seeming madness, Piniella said there was a method.
"If you look at this young man, Ely, he had a lot more success against lefties," Piniella said. "I guess it was his changeup. "He has a real good changeup against lefties. So we played more of a right-handed lineup. When we got our left-handers in there, we got it right."
Working off 51 at-bats against Ely by lefties, the Cubs pointed to 19 strikeouts compared with 9 by righties in 70 at-bats.
Whatever, it worked out thanks to the pair of left-handed hitters, who managed 2 of the Cubs' 4 hits for the game.
The Dodgers got 5 hits, 3 against starter Ted Lilly and 2 against reliever Sean Marshall, who improved to 5-1 as a reliever by working the top of the eighth.
Lilly had his tough inning in the fifth, when he walked three, one intentionally, but left the bases loaded. It was a good day to pitch, especially for a flyball pitcher such as Lilly, because the wind was blowing straight in from left field.
"That can be a good thing and a bad thing," Lilly said. "It depends on how you make your pitches. I don't know if you can get too complacent and just lay it in there, either. These are some of the best hitters in the league. It might not be a day for a lot of home runs, but if guys are keeping it down and hitting it on a line-you go out there and throw strikes. We played really solid defense, so it's a combination of success."
The Cubs got a double from Derrek Lee in the fourth and a single by Kosuke Fukudome in the seventh.
Fontenot replaced Jeff Baker in the eighth after Baker left because of vision problems. A triple down the line in right got things going in the bottom of the eighth. Geovany Soto struck out. Colvin, a defensive replacement in the eighth, pulled one down the line for his RBI double.
"It was a tough at-bat, too," Colvin said. "He (Ely) was pitching a great game, too. I kept one fair to do it."
Carlos Marmol earned his 11th save. He struck out Rafael Furcal before walking Blake DeWitt. But Marmol recovered to strike out pinch hitters Manny Ramirez and Garret Anderson.
"I like that because they are good hitters," Marmol said. "You have to put into your mind they are good hitters. I'm throwing strikes when I need it. The slider was good when I needed it for strikes. It was fun."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Bruce Miles' game tracker</p>
<p class="News"><b>Better all the time:</b> The Cubs got their second straight scoreless quality start. Ted Lilly worked 7 innings, giving up 3 hits. The Cubs are 17-14 in quality-start games, with the starters having an ERA of 2.17 in those games.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Getting on:</b> First baseman Derrek Lee doubled and walked twice. He has reached base in 10 of his last 12 plate appearances. His OBP is .352.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Marmol aid:</b> Closer Carlos Marmol earned his 11th save, walking one and striking out three in the ninth. He now has 49 strikeouts in 242/3 innings pitched. </p>
<p class="breakhead">Cubs scouting report</p>
<p class="News">Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field</p>
<p class="News"><b>TV:</b> Channel 9 Friday; Channel 32 (Fox) Saturday; Comcast SportsNet Sunday</p>
<p class="News"><b>Radio: </b>WGN 720-AM</p>
<p class="News"><b>Pitching matchups:</b> The Cubs' Randy Wells (3-2) vs. Chris Carpenter (5-1) Friday at 1:20 p.m.; Carlos Silva (6-0) vs. TBA Saturday at 3:10 p.m.; Ryan Dempster (3-4) vs. Adam Wainwright (6-3) Sunday at 1:20 p.m.</p>
<p class="News"><b>At a glance: </b>The Cubs began Thursday 5 games behind first-place Cincinnati and 4 games behind the second-place Cardinals in the NL Central. They will see both of St. Louis' co-aces, Carpenter and Wainwright, in this series. They are big reasons the Cardinals entered Thursday second in the league in ERA, at 2.98. The Cubs were ninth, at 4.11. Albert Pujols has a pair of homers off Dempster. Against Carpenter, Alfonso Soriano is 12-for-33 (.364) with 2 homers. Soriano is only 4-for-26 off Wainwright. The Cardinals had to play a 5:35 p.m. Central Time game at San Diego Thursday before traveling to Chicago. The Cubs embark on a nine-game road trip after this series.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Next:</b> Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, Monday-Wednesday</p>
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<li><a href="/story/?id=384094">Worried Cubs send Baker, Zambrano to hospital <span class="date">[5/27/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=384136">Cashner on the move - to Iowa, for now <span class="date">[4/16/10]</span></a></li>
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