Here's why I don't feel good about this win: it wasn't a good win. Let me expand upon that generalization. Alfonso Soriano accounted for two of the Cubs three runs, with solo home runs in the 4th and 6th inning. Koyie Hill scored on a Starlin Castro sacrifice fly in the 2nd. In other words, without the long ball, the Cubs don't win today. And we all know the home run has been hard to come by this year.
Besides Soriano's performance, the Cubs hitting was pretty much the same. They went 0-5 with runners in scoring position. Five different hitters tried their luck and failed.
The Cubs had eight hits on the night, two from Soriano, and two from Koyie Hill. The two hits from Hill are an aberration if I've ever seen one, leaving the Cubs with four hits amongst the other six position players.
This is a Pirates team that is last in the league in WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched), meaning two guys should not have to account for your entire lineup's production. I know that before Tuesday's win the Cubs were 2-8 against the Pirates. That does not mean that any win is a good win. The Pirates were 24 games under .500 going into this game, last in the NL Central, and the worst hitting and pitching team in baseball. Hits and runs should not be hard to come by against them.
The one positive Cubs fans can take out of this game was Ted Lilly's performance. Lilly has done a nice job bouncing back from his eight run disaster against the Angels. Lilly pitched seven quality innings, surrendering only one run and six hits. His only blemish was a 3-2 outside fastball in the 5th inning that Ryan Doumit sent to the left field bleachers. With the win, Lilly improved his record to 3-6.
I'll be watching the rubber match cynical as ever.
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