Lilly Pitches, Hits Cubs To 3-1 Win Vs. D-Backs

Chicago, IL. (AHN) - Ted Lilly helped the Chicago Cubs with his arm and his bat, striking out 10 batters and ripping an RBI single to lift his team to a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday afternoon.

After yielding a solo home run to Chris Young in the first inning, Lilly settled down very nicely, allowing just two more hits over the next six frames.

Lilly improved to 3-4 on the season with his brilliant performance, in which he walked just a pair of batters and lowered his ERA to 5.24 after a particularly rough start to his season.

The Cubs (20-15) bullpen also sparkled, as Carlos Marmol gave up just a hit in the eighth and Kerry Wood was flawless in the ninth to notch his sixth save of the season.

The Cubs offense sputtered through the first four innings, but Lilly came through in the fifth with a run-scoring single, plating Mark DeRosa and Alfonso Soriano, followed with an RBI double for a 2-1 lead.

Derrek Lee added an insurance run in the eighth by blasting his ninth home run of the season.

Dan Haren took the loss for Arizona (23-13), falling to 4-2 on the season despite giving up just five hits over seven innings.

The Cubs and D-Backs are familiar foes, according to Cubs manager Lou Piniella.

"They have a good ballclub," Piniella told mlb.com, referring to the Diamondbacks "We played them last year, and they sent us home in the playoffs. They're a good, young team with some power and speed and athleticism, and have some good young arms."

On Friday, however, it was the Cubbies who were the better team.