Cubs' bats erupt, Lilly continues strong stretch

ST. LOUIS - When Lou Piniella warned Cubs fans not to get too "giggly" about their hot start a couple of weeks ago, he couldn't have envisioned them losing six of eight games and falling into second place in the National League Central.

"We need to get some problems straightened out," Piniella said Saturday morning. "Once we do, we'll be fine. I mentioned when we played so well, winning all these games, 'Let's not get too giggly' because we were masking some things that needed attention, that needed some work. Now we're going to get in the process of doing those things."

The Cubs may not have all the kinks worked out yet, but they have managed to get Ted Lilly on track after his slow start.

Lilly (2-4) helped the Cubs to a 9-3 victory Saturday over St. Louis as the Cubs snapped a two-game losing streak and moved to within a half-game of the first-place Cardinals.

Lilly gave the strained bullpen some rest with seven strong innings while Mike Fontenot's three-run homer off Kyle Lohse capped a six-run fourth inning that put the game on ice early.

Is it difficult to convince Cubs fan not to get "giggly" after they got off to such a good start in the 100th anniversary season of their last championship?

"No, nothing's hard," Piniella said. "One thing I've learned about Chicago is that you're really up or you're really down. ... You have to stay a little more even, especially earlier in the year when you're sorting things out.

"It's going to be a very competitive division, but we're going to be fine."

If Lilly continues to pitch like he has in his last three outings, the Cubs rotation should be somewhat back to normal.

He has posted a 2.84 ERA in those three starts after a 9.16 in his first four.

"I still don't feel my velocity is where it can be," Lilly said. "But I feel my mechanics were a little bit better, I was more consistent and I made one-pitch adjustments more often."

The only thing Piniella wasn't too pleased with was Lilly's belly slide into second base on what should have been a stand-up double in the seventh inning.

"Oh, Lord," Piniella said.

Lilly said he was "catching a lot of heat" for doing it, especially considering he could have walked into the base on his hands.

"It didn't matter," Lilly said with a grin. "It was predetermined."

With Aramis Ramirez sitting out with a swollen left wrist from Friday's plunking by Adam Wainwright, Piniella inserted Kosuke Fukudome in the clean-up spot and watched him go 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI doubles.

"If [ Derrek] Lee gets hurt, he'll be hitting third," Piniella told Japanese reporters, looking for a laugh.

Fukudome's run-scoring double started the scoring binge in the fourth. Geovany Soto's two-run double and Fontenot's homer ended the suspense early.

All that was left to see was whether the Cubs would retaliate for Wainwright hitting Ramirez on Friday.

The designated hit man turned out to be Carlos Marmol, who threw two innings of scoreless relief and managed to hit Rick Ankiel in the leg with one out in the ninth.

psullivan@tribune.com

Related topic galleries: Chicago Cubs, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Major League Baseball, Ted Lilly, Geovany Soto, Lou Piniella

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