Ted Lilly is 2-0 despite having a rough outing in his first start of the season, in which he gave up four home runs at Houston.
In Monday's home opener against the Rockies, Lilly worked 6 2/3 innings of hitless ball as the Cubs won 4-0. Lilly is the type of pitcher who needs all three of his main pitches -- fastball, curveball and changeup -- to be effective at the same time. That wasn't the case last week. Lilly left balls up in the zone, and they were hit a long way. "When he gets a little better snap on his breaking ball, gets a little more arm speed to his changeup, gets a little more deceptive, and at the same time, he gets a little bit more of a ride on his fastball, that's when he's at his best," said manager Lou Piniella. "He's not that far away from there."
Lilly was with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, and he had some catching up to do with the Cubs. He also started slowly last season, going 1-4 with a 6.46 ERA in April.
"I had a lot of work to do on the side after my last start," Lilly said. "The thing I'm keeping in mind at this point is I have a lot of work to do."
Lilly is the No. 3 starter behind Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster.
