Lilly Takes No-Hitter into 7th; Cubs Shut Out Rockies

Opening day at Wrigley Field was cold, drizzly, windy, and began with some maniac hanging a goat’s head from the Harry Caray statue outside.  Bad weather and rotting animal parts did not deter the faithful from filling the venerable ballyard however, and to their delight, the bundled-up throngs were treated to a 4-0 Cubs victory over the Colorado Rockies.  Ted Lilly, as he is often wont to do, took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, only to see it broken up on a Garrett Atkins single.  That was the only hit the frozen Rockies would see all day.  Lilly and three relievers combined on the shutout, with the somewhat maligned Kevin Gregg coming in to pitch his first relatively uneventful ninth of the season.  The Cubs themselves got on the board in the second thanks to their specialty, the bases-loaded walk.  They added two more in the fourth, on a throwing error that scored Koyie Hill and a Derrek Lee single (nice to see Derrek’s bat somewhat coming to life).  The scoring was capped off in the 8th when Kosuke Fukudome singled in Alfonso Soriano.  The Cubs are now 5-2, 1/2 game behind the red-hot Pujols guy and the St. Louis Cardinals.