Lilly, Lee, Marmol

Lou Piniella figured it was time to rest some of his starters, including Ryan Theriot and Aramis Ramirez.  Thankfully, he did not decide to sit Derrek Lee, whose two-run homer gave the Cubs all their runs against the Astros on Wednesday.

Thanks to Ted Lilly and Carlos Marmol, two runs was all the Cubs would need.

Lilly went 8, surrendering just 4 hits, walking none and striking out 5.  Carlos Marmol took over in the 9th, and once again had Cubs fans reaching for the booze.  However, after giving up a walk and a hit, Marmol easily retired the last two batters, nailing down the save.

The Wild Card watch now looks like this:  the Cubs remain 6 behind the Rockies, but have now closed to within 1 of the Marlins and 2 of the Braves.  The Cubs are now 2-0 in September.  If they run the table for the month, they may still have a shot.  That’s called keeping up hope.