Some details of Ted Lilly’s one-hit start against Colorado in the Cubs’ home opener on Monday:
- Lilly faced 23 hitters. Of the 20 he retired in 6 2/3 innings, he fanned 8, retired 2 by ground-out, and got 10 by fly-out. Over his career, Lilly’s ground ball/fly ball ratio has been about 3:4. The higher proportion of fly balls on Monday tracks with Lilly’s performance this spring, when he was tagged for 5 HR in just 11 IP, and in his first start at Houston, when he gave up 4 longballs. On Monday, obviously, nothing left the ballpark.
- Lilly’s game score on Monday was a 78. That’s his second highest score in Lilly’s 70 starts as a Chicago Cub, however it’s only the fifth highest in the lefty’s career. In August of ‘04, when he threw a three-hit, complete game shutout at the Red Sox while striking out 13 and walking just 2, Lilly set a personal high with a game score of 83.
- Lilly only threw a first-pitch strike to 12 of the 23 men he faced.
All in all, a brilliant way to open the 2009 home season and set the Cubs on their way to duplicating last year’s consistent excellence at Wrigley Field.
Stats from Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs.com, and MLB.com.