Dodgers hit a wall in slim loss to Cubs

No matter how good this one looked, Ted Lilly really wasn't sure this was his best start of the season. Either way, he'll take it.

Lilly pitched seven scoreless innings, Tyler Colvin drove in the lone run with a double in the eighth, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-0, yesterday in Wrigley Field.

"I got away with a few," Lilly said. "I made some decent pitches."

But . . .

"Maybe not the best I've thrown the ball," he said.

It was good enough, though.

Barely.

Mike Fontenot led off the eighth with a triple down the rightfield line and came around on a one-out double down the line by Colvin, who went to third when rightfielder Xavier Paul had trouble picking up the ball and bumped into the wall.

"It's a tough little corner," Colvin said. "You've got the drain, a little spot where the ball can roll down."

And there's hardly any room between the wall and the line.

That hit chased tough-luck loser John Ely (3-2) and sent the Cubs to their eighth win in 11 games.

The Dodgers designated pitcher Ramon Ortiz for assignment and purchased the contract of righthander Justin Miller from Triple A.

For the Cubs, pitcher Carlos Zambrano is day to day after going to a hospital for precautionary reasons because of lower abdominal pain.

In other games:

* At San Francisco, Freddy Sanchez hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the seventh inning after earlier getting hit in the face by a spiked cleat, Aubrey Huff added a solo home run and the Giants rallied to beat the Washington Nationals, 5-4.

* At Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks walked with the bases loaded to force in the winning run in the 10th inning to give the Brewers a comeback, 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros.

* At Denver, Seth Smith, Carlos Gonzalez and Ryan Spilborghs hit consecutive homers in the seventh inning, Troy Tulowitzki also homered and the Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-2, to sweep the three-game series.

* At Cincinnati, Scott Rolen's three-run homer started an early splurge off righthander Charlie Morton (1-9) - the major leagues' leader in losses - and the Reds (28-20) rolled to their best record since 2006 by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-2.

* At San Diego, Albert Pujols hit his first homer and drove in his first runs in 11 games, and Brendan Ryan tied a career high with four hits to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the Padres, 8-3.

* At Miami, Martin Prado had three hits and drove in two runs, leading the Atlanta Braves to an 8-3 win over the Florida Marlins.

* The Florida Marlins called up relievers Jay Buente and Taylor Tankersley, along with infielder Mike Lamb from Triple A New Orleans.

Righthander Burke Badenhop was optioned to New Orleans and lefthander Renyel Pinto was placed on the 15-day DL.

* The San Francisco Giants recalled righty Waldis Joaquin from Triple A Fresno before yesterday's game. Infielder Matt Downs was optioned to Fresno.

* The Colorado Rockies recalled righthander Matt Daley from Triple A Colorado Springs and optioned lefty Greg Smith to the Sky Sox.

* St. Louis Cardinals righthander Kyle Lohse is set to undergo surgery on his right forearm today. Lohse was placed on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with exertional compartment syndrome.