The rain didn’t dampen the joy in Cubsville as the home team won their season opener with a 4-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.
The rain didn’t dampen the joy in Cubsville as the home team won their season opener with a 4-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Chicago Cubs’ left-hander Ted Lilly flicked away the elements and carried a no-hitter for six 2-3 innings Monday against the Colorado Rockies.
Garrett Atkins grounded a clean single between short and third with two outs in the top of the seventh for the first hit off Lilly – the only one the Rockies would get all day as the Cubs took a 4-0 win in their home opener at Wrigley Field.
“I was aware, but I wasn’t really thinking about it,” Lilly said. “I was still trying to focus on making quality pitches, not so much how am I going to protect that, you know protect the no-hitter.”
But when a 1-0 slider didn’t move as much as Lilly hoped, Atkins whacked it on the ground through the infield. The crowd gave Lilly an ovation.
“I wasn’t disappointed in the pitch selection, not disappointed in my frame of mind,” Lilly said. “Just the fact the ball didn’t act as I wanted it to, not as sharp as I would have liked. That’s all…It’s still a groundball, but he put a good swing on it.”
After Seth Smith followed the single with a walk, Chicago manager Lou Piniella removed Lilly. The left-hander left to a rousing ovation from a bundled-up crowd. Attendance was announced at 40,077.
“Lilly really mastered the weather,” Piniella said. “He threw strikes and changed speeds.”
But after 104 pitches, Piniella wasn’t going to leave Lilly in any longer, despite how well he was pitching.
“Early in the season you let a pitcher go much more than he pitched, you’re looking for problems,” Piniella said.
Lilly (2-0) allowed just two walks and the single, while striking out eight. He also walked Chris Iannetta in the third. Relievers Angel Guzman, Aaron Heilman and Kevin Gregg completed the one-hit shutout.
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