NewsCubs can't solve Cueto, fall to Reds
Lilly tosses seven frames of one-run ball, but bats silent
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
04/23/09 12:15 AM ET
CHICAGO -- Ted Lilly held the Cincinnati Reds to one unearned run over seven innings, did not walk a batter and struck out two. It was a pretty good effort. How did he feel about his outing Wednesday night?"Not as good as Johnny Cueto feels about his," Lilly said.
Cueto combined with two pitchers on a six-hit shutout and picked up two hits himself to outduel Lilly and lead the Reds to a 3-0 victory over the Cubs, evening the series.
Cueto (1-1) gave up four hits, including two by Derrek Lee, struck out three and did not walk a batter over seven innings.
"You know he's going to have good stuff," Lee said of Cueto. "It's just a matter of whether he's locating, and tonight he was and he shut us down."
Lilly (2-1) shut down the Reds, who notched their only run off the lefty because of an error he made. In the Reds' third, Alex Gonzalez bunted toward third, and Lilly dove trying to field the ball. His throw to first got past Lee, and Gonzalez reached second on the combination single and error. Gonzalez advanced on Cueto's bunt single and scored on Willy Taveras' sacrifice fly.
"It would've been a nice night to go out there and keep up with the other guy," Lilly said. "[Cueto] threw the ball well. I had my hands full trying to keep pace with him. Unfortunately, it came down to a pretty fundamental baseball play. I tried to make a throw, and there wasn't even a play at first to begin with. Cueto bunts for a base hit there.
"It's amazing -- you go back to Spring Training and talk about all those little things and how important they are and we work hard on them, and they come up in a game like this," Lilly said. "It ended up making a difference."
Lee didn't blame Lilly for the botched play.
"I think [Lilly] was trying to rush the throw, and it just got away from him," Lee said. "That's not what cost us the game. We didn't score."
"I'm pretty frustrated," Lilly said. "I sure would like it if guys wanted to continue to try to bunt on me. I don't expect anything like [what happened Wednesday] to happen very often."
Lilly has done his job on the mound. In his past two starts, the lefty has not given up an earned run over 13 2/3 innings while striking out 10.
Joey Votto added an RBI double with two outs in the Reds' eighth off Angel Guzman, and Jay Bruce homered to lead off the ninth against Kevin Gregg.
Milton Bradley returned to the Cubs' lineup for the first time since April 12 and went 0-for-4. He was called out on strikes with two on and one out in the first, grounded out with one on in the fourth and was called out again on strikes for the second out in the sixth. Francisco Cordero struck out Bradley to start the ninth. The outfielder, who had been sidelined with a strained right groin, is 1-for-23 for the season.
"Anybody is entitled to a slow start," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Let's not judge a player, whomever, because of a slow start. A lot of players get off to slow starts and build during the year and have good years. I think it's too early to make judgments on anybody, truthfully."
Lee has recorded a multi-hit game in four of his last five games, but he knows all about slow starts. In 2004, his first season in Chicago, he batted .233 in the first month of the season and finished the year with a .278 average.
"I struggled for a while, made an adjustment coming here," Lee said. "The fans let me know about it. Milton doesn't have very many at-bats, so he's going to be fine. He can just flat out hit. That's not even a concern for us. Once he starts hitting, the fans will be behind him."
Bradley did take early batting practice, and Piniella said he'd check with the outfielder prior to Thursday's game to make sure he was OK.
"I'm sure he's not 100 percent," Lee said. "He's going to be fine. He has more than 500 at-bats to go. He'll put up some great numbers."
Bradley wasn't available after Wednesday's game. Would Lee encourage the new Cub to talk to the media?
"I encourage him to do whatever makes him feel comfortable," Lee said. "Whatever he feels he has to do to prepare himself to play the best he can, however he needs to go about it, that's what I encourage him to do."
Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
