Lilly in command as Jays beat Cards
TORONTO -- Who was that and what did he do with the other Ted Lilly? Toronto's erratic starter had his best outing of the season on Wednesday night, when he held the Cardinals to four hits in a 5-2 win for the Jays."I'm really the only one that gets in my way at times -- the one that really inhibits my performance," said Lilly. "I'm the one out there between the lines and I have control of the baseball. I believe, whether I succeed or fail, that it's nobody else's fault but mine."
This time, he'd gladly take the blame -- or credit, as the situation dictates. Lilly worked seven innings, the deepest he's gone all season, and rarely wound up in trouble. The Cardinals (41-24) pushed one runner into scoring position against the starter and didn't score until the eighth inning.
Toronto took two of three in this series and currently holds a 6-6 record in Interleague Play. The Jays have won two of their last four games and four of their last nine, but they needed a win to push back to the break-even mark.
"We've been struggling offensively, but we've run into some good pitching too. We've got some good hitters -- it's just something you go through," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "Of course, tonight, Ted gave us a big game. We got just what we needed.
"Another thing I've said all along: These guys bounce back. They get their backs against the wall and they show up to play. They don't quit."
That sentiment also applied to Lilly, who's struggled to find consistency for most of the season. The left-hander had allowed three homers in his last start, and for the season, he'd given up 12 homers in 12 starts. He'd also drawn some local headlines for a difference of opinion with Brad Arnsberg, Toronto's pitching coach.
"There might have been some minor misunderstanding -- I don't know. It wasn't really something we ever got into," said Lilly. "Unfortunately, that's as boring as it is. There have been times where we'd disagree on something and find something else to work on.
"It's really not so much that anything has changed tremendously just because I've gone out there and won one game in the last six. It's not like we were ever on bad terms to begin with -- as far as I know."
This time, Toronto (33-33) used the long ball to give Lilly some early support. Orlando Hudson mashed Jason Marquis in the second inning, drilling a two-run shot into the home team's bullpen. The Jays got another run when Russ Adams singled, stole second base and scored on a base hit from Alex Rios.
After that, both batting orders stalled until the fifth, when the Jays provided the final margin. Shea Hillenbrand knocked a two-out double and moved to third on a wild pitch. One walk later, Aaron Hill chased both runners with a double up the right-field line. That meant five runs for Lilly to work with, and the Cardinals never really came close to cashing anything in.
Ted Lilly / P
Born: 01/04/76
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 190 lbs
Bats: L / Throws: L
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"Bottom line: If we're going to have a good, solid year, he's got to come through for us. That's no secret," said Gibbons. "Let's hope he finishes strong. He got off to a slow start, but he had a couple good outings sandwiched in there. Let's watch him take off from here."
"I made a couple good pitches and some guys made some good plays. I think everybody made every play that was hit to them," said Lilly. "The only one that wasn't was a ball (John) Mabry hit back to me. I don't know if it was an error, but it was probably the only play that should've been made and wasn't.
"We've got a long way to go and I need to continue. I'm going to enjoy this tonight and start getting ready for my next start."
The Cardinals made things interesting in the eighth, when they scored on an Albert Pujols single and loaded the bases with one out. Jason Frasor came into that tough spot and nearly folded, allowing a run-scoring single to Reggie Sanders, the first batter he faced. From there, Frasor coaxed a double-play grounder out of Scott Seabol to end the threat.
"We had a chance there in the eighth," said Seabol. "Big double-play ball and that was that. You've got to be selectively aggressive in that situation, and I may have been a little too aggressive."
"I think you tip your hat to what Mr. Lilly did out there. His ball was moving pretty good," said Larry Walker, the road team's DH. "He threw it where he wanted to. He kept us all off-balance. We had some ugly swings -- a lot of guys.
"I don't think you say we didn't swing well. We didn't swing well because he pitched good. Simple as that."
Source: http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/
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