The two were teammates on the Cubs and again on Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, but on Sunday, DeRosa went 3-for-3 off Lilly, hitting two home runs and a double, and notched another RBI on a sacrifice fly in Cleveland's 7-5 win over Chicago.

"I wish it counted," DeRosa said.

"[Lilly] asked how to pitch to DeRosa before the ballgame," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "I think he got the wrong information."

There were several fans in the crowd of 13,097 at HoHoKam Park cheering for DeRosa. Lilly wasn't one of them.

"The thing that's important from here on out is that he definitely had fun today," Lilly said, "and I need to make sure when we play them, that he has a miserable time in Chicago."

The Cubs' lefty has already checked the regular-season schedule to see when the two meet again. On June 19-21, the Indians play at Wrigley Field in an Interleague Play series.

It might have looked like DeRosa knew what was coming, but Lilly said neither he nor catcher Geovany Soto tipped him off.

"You'd think by those swings [he did know]," Lilly said. "He's a good fastball hitter. I wanted to challenge him, and I still felt like if I do challenge him and locate my pitches, I get him out. We're going to see him again in June -- I looked at the schedule to make sure. I've got to somehow make sure I get in that series. I'll break about 10 of his bats."

What about a message pitch after that second homer?

"I definitely thought about it," Lilly said, "but if one did get away and I happened to put him out for awhile, that would be kind of weak. More so, you tend to protect your team if a guy gets hit. I didn't want to do it just because I was upset.

"Once the season starts, at that point you're not working on anything and you have to do what you have to do to make the hitters uncomfortable and throw any pitch at any given time."

DeRosa hit his second spring homer in the first, a two-run shot, when he smacked the first pitch from Lilly over the left-field fence. DeRosa connected again with two outs in the third, this time launching a ball high off the scoreboard at HoHoKam Park in left. DeRosa doubled with two outs in the fifth, hitting the ball off the batter's eye in center. That was the best one he hit, he said. DeRosa then scored on Victor Martinez's single.

This was Lilly's first start since rejoining the Cubs after the World Baseball Classic. The lefty last started March 17 against Puerto Rico, and did not get a decision. Against the Indians, he gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks over five-plus innings, striking out eight.

"You look at Lilly now as opposed to last spring, and he's way ahead," Piniella said. "He gets one more start and he'll be ready for Game 3 [of the regular season]."

Other than DeRosa, the only other part of Lilly's outing he didn't like was the sixth inning, when he walked the first two Indians batters. The lefty was then pulled after throwing nearly 90 pitches.

"The last inning, when I walked the leadoff guy and walked the guy from the stretch, I wasn't happy about coming out of the game," Lilly said. "That's important to me to make pitches with runners on -- that's how you win games. I'm throwing the ball fairly well. Nothing hurt, other than my feelings."

Lilly is a competitor, and don't think he's not looking ahead to June already.

"I definitely have some revenge," Lilly said. "I'm not happy about it, by any means. The only good thing to come out of it was that it was Spring Training."

DeRosa said he didn't know exactly what was coming, but does know the lefty well.

"I've been playing behind Ted Lilly for two years," DeRosa said. "I've kind of got an idea of what he wants to do."

So there was no deal between the two of them?

"No deal," DeRosa said. "I was just hoping he didn't put one in my ribs."

He was joking. DeRosa enjoyed being reunited with his ex-teammates.

"As soon as you see that uniform go out on the field, you start to relive two years of memories and two division championships," DeRosa said. "That's the thing -- the friendships I built."

Former Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood also made an appearance for the Indians, pitching the seventh. The only interesting pitch was a curve that got away from him and sailed over Alfonso Soriano.

Sunday was the first time Piniella had a chance to talk to DeRosa. He had chatted with Wood about a month ago at a Phoenix-area restaurant.

"They'll like both of our guys," Piniella said of the Indians. "Both guys are outstanding guys and they'll do well for Cleveland."