Everyone was waiting for a vintage Ted Lilly moment with Lou Piniella, based on Lilly’s tussle with his former manager in Toronto last summer.
It finally came to fruition during the second inning of Tuesday night’s game in Pittsburgh, though it wasn’t the way anyone envisioned.
The game ultimately was suspended because of persistent rain before the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Cubs leading 6-5 on the strength of Cliff Floyd’s two-run homer into the Allegheny River. It will be picked up where it left off at 11:35 a.m. Wednesday, with the regularly scheduled game following one-half hour later.
The Lilly-Piniella incident was one for the books. Lilly had slipped on a bunt attempt for the second time when Piniella gave him some unsolicited advice.
“I suggested to him, almost like football, ‘You better change your spikes,’
” Piniella said. “Then I went out there and he said, ‘Skip, your zipper is down.’ “
A quick check by Piniella revealed Lilly was correct.
“How he noticed that, I don’t know,” Piniella said with a laugh. “Oh, Lord.”
Lilly was surprised Piniella was so forthcoming.
“Did he tell you guys?” Lilly said. “I was just trying to help him out. I thought he might be on national television.”
Lilly was able to laugh a little after his worst outing as a Cub. He left in the sixth inning with the Cubs trailing 5-2, but a four-run seventh inning got him off the hook before rain halted the action.
“If we were still losing 5-2, I’d almost not want to do this interview,” Lilly said. “I was so disgusted with the way I pitched. It makes it a lot easier when we come back and take the lead. I’m feeling a lot better.”
It figured the Cubs’ outfield finally would end its power outage when thunder and lightning rolled through the area. Alfonso Soriano led off the game with his first home run in 75 at-bats. It was the 33rd time in his career he had led off a game with a homer. Jacque Jones chipped in with his first homer in the second, in his 83rd at-bat.
But the crowning blow was Floyd’s two-run, seventh-inning home run off Jonah Bayliss. Floyd’s second home run as a Cub capped a four-run seventh and gave the Cubs the one-run lead.
Just like flipping on a light switch, the Cubs’ offense clicked on as soon as the calendar turned from April to May. Derrek Lee contributed two doubles and a single, becoming the first Cub in at least 50 years to start the season reaching safely in 25 straight games. Lee said it was only a matter of time before the offense clicked.
“It just hasn’t been consistent,” he said. “We haven’t combined to hit. The pitching has been unbelievable. The offense has kind of wavered.
“If we can all get on the same page, it just seems like with the talent in our lineup, we’re going to score runs.”
Meanwhile, right-hander Angel Guzman may have cost himself another week at Triple-A Iowa, after giving up three runs in seven innings to Nashville. Piniella said he may have to rethink his decision to bring up Guzman to pitch Sunday.
“We could wait a little longer,” he said. “We have that option.
“That’s not good news. I was expecting him to go down there and basically dominate, the way he was throwing the ball here. I’m wondering if not knowing when he pitches is better than knowing when he does.”
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psullivan@tribune.com
