The Chicago Cubs continued to swing the bats very good and Ted Lilly picked up his first win of the season as the Cubs beat the New York Mets 8-1 on Tuesday afternoon.  The Cubs finished their eight game homestand by winning seven of the right games and moving into first place in the central divsion.

Ronny Cedeno led the Cubs at the plate as he went 2-5 with a grand slam in the eigth inning and a RBI double in the second inning that scored Kosuke Fukudome.  Fukudome also had a good day at the plate as he went 3-3 and reached base all five times he batted.

Reed Johnson and Mark DeRosa both had one RBI for the Cubs as well, who got productivity from pretty much everyone in their lineup.  The Cubs were very patient at the plate again as they drew eight walks and only struckout three times.  Great job today at the plate!

Lilly finally picked up his first win of the season as he pitched six innings of four hit baseball.  He only gave up one earned run while walking four batters and striking out four.  He didn’t have his best stuff, and still isn’t throwing the ball as hard as he was last year, but hopefully this will get the lefty on track and het can start producing some wins for the team.

Bob Howry, Carlos Marmol, and Kevin Hart all threw one inning each and did a very good job.  The Mets were only able to get one hit and that came off of Hart in the ninth inning.

The Cubs will now travel to Denver for a short two game series against the Rockies.  Jason Marquis and Rich Hill will be taking the mound for the Cubs.  Hopefully they will be able to keep the ball down, and hold the Rockies offense down.

What do you think of how well the Cubs are playing right now?  How long will they be able to keep this up?