Lilly pitches 8 innings, Cubs beat Cardinals 4-3

[September 11, 2008]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Ted Lilly pitched eight sharp innings and the Chicago Cubs capitalized on shaky fielding by injured Troy Glaus' replacement, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Wednesday night for only their second win in nine games.

Backup third baseman Felipe Lopez made a fielding error and throwing error on consecutive plays in the second inning, helping the Cubs score four runs.

Lilly pitched eight sharp innings and Chicago held its 4 1/2-game lead in the NL Central over Milwaukee and won for the 15th time in its last 19 road games.

The Cubs improved the league's best record to 87-58. St. Louis dropped 4 1/2 games behind Milwaukee for the wild card and fell to fourth place in the Central for the first time this season.

Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run homer off Cubs closer Kerry Wood with one out in the ninth. Wood finished for his 28th save in 34 chances.

Wood had two losses and a blown save in his previous two outings and has surrendered seven runs in 3 1-3 innings his last three outings.

Lilly (14-9) had a strong bounceback after lasting only two innings in his last outing on Saturday at Cincinnati. He allowed a run in a shaky first but nothing the last seven innings while striking out five and walking none.

Lilly matched his longest outing of the season. He's now 5-2 for his career against the Cardinals.

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina bruised his left thigh when he was kneed by Lilly in a home-plate collision in the second and left the game three innings later.

Lilly lowered his shoulder and crashed into Molina trying to dislodge the ball on a tag plate after Derrek Lee's grounder to short.

The Cubs opened the second with three straight singles by Kosuke Fukudome, Mark DeRosa and Felix Pie for a run, and the errors by Lopez let them take the lead.

Molina's throw was on time to third on Lilly's sacrifice try but Lopez straddled the bag without making contact for an error. Lopez then made a diving stop on Alfonso Soriano's chopper, picked up the ball after it popped out of his glove, and bounced a wild throw to second that let two runs score.

Aramis Ramirez added an RBI single in the inning.

Braden Looper (12-12) needed 46 pitches to exit the second but settled down after that in a five-inning appearance. Only one of the four runs was earned.

Albert Pujols got his 99th RBI with a groundout in the first. He has eight RBIs in the last four games and needs one more to join Al Simmons and Ted Williams as the only players in major league history to get 100 RBIs in their first eight seasons.

Pujols missed a chance for another RBI on a two-out single to left in the third. Soriano easily threw out Cesar Izturis at the plate, and Pujols flung his helmet several yards after the play.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

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