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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) – It looked as easy as a game of catch in his
backyard.
|  | | John Lieber faced the minimum number of batters and one-hit the Reds on 78 pitches. |
Despite a 1 1/2-hour rain delay, Jon Lieber never lost his smooth
rhythm, pitching a one-hitter to give the Chicago Cubs a 3-0
victory Thursday and hand the Cincinnati Reds their first shutout
loss in almost two years.
"I wish I could throw every game like that," he said.
Lieber (4-3) faced the minimum number of batters, allowing only
a single in the sixth inning and a walk in the ninth. He threw just
78 pitches, 56 for strikes.
He got to a double-digit pinch count in only two innings,
throwing 10 pitches in the eighth and 16 in the ninth.
"It was just fun watching him making it look that easy," Cubs
reliever Kyle Farnsworth said. "He makes it look easy every day,
but today, 78 pitches? That's ridiculous. It's just amazing."
Gary Matthews Jr. homered and drove in another run to back
Lieber, and Sammy Sosa hit an RBI single in his first at-bat after
missing two games with tightness in his lower back.
Lieber ended the Reds' streak without a shutout at an NL-record
208 games. The last time Cincinnati failed to score was Oct. 4,
1999, when Al Leiter's two-hitter led the New York Mets to a 5-0
win in the NL wild-card tiebreaker playoff.
Only the New York Yankees (308 games from 1931-33) and the
Milwaukee Brewers (212 games, 1978-79) went longer without a
shutout.
"All good things will come in good time," said Sean Casey, who
went 0-for-3. "But today, Lieber pitched well and we didn't swing
the bats. That's just the way it is."
It was the first one-hitter against the Reds since Atlanta's
John Smoltz on April 30, 1999.
Osvaldo Fernandez (5-3) gave up two runs and six hits in 3 1-3
innings.
Lieber has 14 complete games in his career, and his previous
best was a two-hitter last July 3 against Pittsburgh. Even though
the start of Thursday's game was pushed back 55 minutes by rain,
Lieber came out firing from the start.
He retired his first 14 batters before the rain delay, and
needed only 29 pitches to do it.
When the rain came in the bottom of the fourth, he went back in
the clubhouse, put a few hot packs on his arm and talked to his
teammates.
"I just tried to stay loose," he said. "I didn't feel that
bad, so I was just hoping it wasn't going to be too long of a rain
delay and I could go back out."
Cubs manager Don Baylor never even gave it a second thought.
When he saw Lieber's pitch count, he knew the right-hander was
going back in.
When the game resumed after 1 hour, 37 minutes, Lieber threw for
about 10 minutes in the bullpen and then retired five more batters.
His bid for a perfect game ended in the sixth when Juan Castro
singled to right center.
"He threw a slider and I didn't hit it too hard. I'm just glad
Sammy didn't get it," Castro said. "He's a good pitcher, a guy
who won't walk you very much. Today he got his pitches all where he
wanted them."
Lieber didn't let Castro stay on base for long. Scott Winchester
attempted a sacrifice bunt, and Lieber snagged it and threw hard to
Ricky Gutierrez to get Castro. Gutierrez then threw to Eric Young,
who got Winchester at first for the double play.
He gave up three balls to a hitter only twice, the last two of
the game. He walked Castro, and then got to 3-2 on pinch-hitter
Ruben Rivera, but Rivera grounded into a double play.
Even with the rain delays, the game lasted only 1:48.
"It's a joy to be around when a pitcher gets in a rhythm like
that," Young said.
The Cubs gave Lieber all the offense he needed in the first.
Sosa, playing even though he's not 100 percent, didn't look like he
was hurting as he lined one just to the left of shortstop Donnie
Sadler and through the gap for an RBI single.
Matthews led off the fifth with a homer off Winchester, his
fourth of the year. The Reds have now given up at least one home
run in 14 straight games, a club record.
Matthews also had an RBI single in the second inning.
"Lieber was awesome today," Sosa said. "This was his day."
Game notes
The Reds have never had a perfect game pitched against
them. They haven't been no-hit since June 23, 1971, when Rick Wise
of the Philadelphia Phillies did it. ... Pokey Reese missed his
second game with a sore right thumb. ... The Cubs have won five
straight, tying their season-high winning streak. ... Ron Coomer
left the game in the third inning with tightness in his left calf.
He was 0-for-2, snapping his 11-game hitting streak. ... The were
five rain delays in the three-game series took 6:01. The three
games took 7:32 to play.
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NY Yankees 2
Boston 1
Baltimore 6
Anaheim 4
Cleveland 8
Detroit 5
Chi. White Sox 3
Toronto 1
Texas 9
Tampa Bay 3
St. Louis 7
Milwaukee 4
Chicago Cubs 3
Cincinnati 0
San Diego 3
Arizona 1
Philadelphia 6
Pittsburgh 5
NY Mets 11
Florida 3
San Francisco 5
Colorado 1
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