The big story was Ted Lilly's performance, as he took a no hitter into the 9th inning. Juan Pierre, pinch hitting for Floyd, led off the inning with a single. Lilly was taken out after giving up his first and only hit.
Lilly needed 108 pitches to secure the victory, his second highest pitch count of the season. The performance also marked a milestone for Lilly It was the farthest he'd ever taken a no-hitter into a game. His previous best was 7 1/3 inning while pitching for Toronto.
The win, however did not come easy. Carlos Marmol relieved Lilly in the ninth and walked Andruw Jones. With the rain coming down hard, Marmol seemed to lose his footing while delivering a pitch to Alexei Ramirez, and was called for a balk. After striking out Ramirez, Marmol intentionally walked Alex Rios to load the bases with one out.
Paul Konerko hit a soft groundball to Lee at first, who got the force out at home. Marmol then got Carlos Quentin to fly out to center to record his 13th save of the season.
White Sox starting pitcher Gavin Floyd wasn't bad himself, taking a no hitter 6 2/3 before giving up a double to Alfonso Soriano. Chad Tracy followed up with a single up the middle to score the Cubs only run. Floyd went 8 innings, giving up three hits and striking out nine.
With the win, the Cubs broke a three game losing streak. The win was also Lilly's first in his last three starts, despite pitching well in all three. Sunday's win was only Lilly's second win of the year, despite a 2.90 ERA.
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