Lilly comes up big with arm, bat

CHICAGO - The last time Ted Lilly faced the Diamondbacks, he was so disgusted with himself that he threw his glove to the mound after permitting a three-run home run to Chris Young in the second inning of Game 2 of the 2007 NLDS.

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Young homered in the first inning Friday, but not only was Lilly unfazed, he recovered to drive in the tying run in the Cubs’ two-run fifth inning for a wind-aided 3-1 victory at Wrigley Field.

“I was pretty pumped for a number of reasons. Last year was one of them,” Lilly said.

“You don’t forget, but at the same time you don’t want to come out of your game.”

Lilly struck out 10, and the D-Backs got only one hit after the third inning to waste a solid start by Dan Haren, who got two outs in the fifth inning before the Cubs scored all they would need.

Mark DeRosa doubled with two outs and the D-Backs intentionally walked No. 8 hitter Reed Johnson to bring up Lilly.

“I’ll take my chances against Lilly,” Haren said of the strategy.

“If Johnson gets a hit there, I feel worse than this outcome. You have to let the pitcher beat you,” manager Bob Melvin said.

Lilly lined a 1-0 pitch to center field, and Alfonso Soriano doubled inside the bag at third on the next pitch for a 2-1 lead. Derrek Lee homered in the eighth.

“If you fall behind (a pitcher) 1-0, it’s a 99 percent chance he is going to get a fastball,” Haren said.

“He knew that. Everyone knew that. He did a good piece of hitting. He didn’t try to do too much. He just put his bat on the ball.”

Haren struck out five while giving up five hits.

“He didn’t deserve that outcome,” Melvin said.

“I felt great. I’m finally getting back to normal,” said Haren, who lost 10 pounds earlier this season because of the upper respiratory infection that spread through the clubhouse.

Saturday’s game

When: 12:40 p.m.

Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago

TV/Radio: Channel 10/KTAR (620 AM)

Line: Cubs 115-125

Records: D-Backs 23-13, Cubs 20-15

Pitchers: Arizona’s Max Scherzer (0-1, 5.40 ERA) will make his second major league start in front of about 25 family members and friends who will make the drive from St. Louis, as well as a regional TV audience. Command of his secondary pitches may be a telling point. Chicago’s Ryan Dempster (4-1, 2.72) will make his eighth start of the season in his successful conversion from the bullpen, where he spent last season as the Cubs’ closer. He suffered his first loss Monday when Washington scored five unearned runs in a 5-2 victory. Dempster is 1-4 with a 6.04 ERA against the D-Backs in his career.

Snake Bites
Turning point: Alfonso Soriano doubled over the bag at third base to drive in Ted Lilly with the tiebreaking run in the fifth inning.

Stat of the game: Chris Young has three home runs in his last eight at-bats.

Unsung hero: Kerry Wood threw nine straight strikes to retire the D-Backs in the ninth inning for his sixth save.

Mark at the mike: As has become customary, former Cubs great Mark Grace sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch Friday. Playing to the fans, he kept the “root, root, root for the Cubbies” lyric intact.