Little did Ted Lilly know that his 4th inning suicide squeeze would end up playing a big role in the Cubs’ division-clinching win on Saturday afternoon.

The Chicago Cubs built an early 5-run lead & held on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 to clinch the 2008 National League Central division title & make back-to-back postseason apperances for the first time in 100 years.

The Cardinals started an early rally in the top of the 1st inning after Ryan Ludwick hit a 1-out double off Cubs starter Ted Lilly, which sailed over the head of Alfonso Soriano in left field.

Albert Pujols then grounded out to Ryan Theriot at shortstop before Felipe Lopez struck out looking to end the scoring threat.

The Cubs then had a chance to score in the bottom of the 1st inning after Derrek Lee hit a 2-out double against Cardinals starter Joel Piniero.

Aramis Ramirez then flied out to Adam Kennedy in right field to end the scoring threat.

Chicago took an early lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning after Jim Edmonds hit a lead-off double against Piniero.

Geovany Soto then drew a walk, which put runners at 1st & 2nd with nobody out for Mark DeRosa.

DeRosa then hit into a fielder’s choice, which put runners at 1st & 3rd with just 1 out for Kosuke Fukudome.

Fukudome then drew a walk, which loaded the bases for Ted Lilly.

Lilly struck out before Alfonso Soriano delivered with a clutch bases-clearing double, which gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead.

Soriano was then able to advance to 3rd base on the play after his grounder skipped past Brian Barton in left field.

Ryan Theriot then flied out to Adam Kennedy in right field to end the inning.

Chicago was then able to add onto their lead in the bottom of the 4th inning after Geovany Soto reached 1st base safely thanks to a fielding error by St. Louis 3rd baseman Troy Glaus.

Mark DeRosa then hit an RBI double over a leaping Brian Barton in left field to score Soto from 1st base, which gave the Cubs a 4-0 lead.

Kosuke Fukudome then grounded out to Felipe Lopez at 2nd base, but advanced DeRosa to 3rd base on the play.

Ted Lilly then executed a perfect suicide squeeze, which scored DeRosa from 3rd base & gave Chicago a 5-0 lead.

The Cardinals then tried to end the shutout in the top of the 6th inning after Cesar Izturis hit a 1-out single against Lilly.

2 batters later, Albert Pujols drew a walk to put runners at 1st & 2nd with just 1 out.

Izturis & Pujols then both stole 2nd & 3rd base during Felipe Lopez’s at-bat, who hit an RBI single to score Izturis from 3rd & made it a 5-1 Cub lead.

Troy Glaus then followed with a 3-run homer (25th of season) which put St. Louis down just 5-4.

The Cardinals final chance to rally came in the top of the 9th inning after Troy Glaus drew a lead-off walk from Cubs closer Kerry Wood.

Adam Kennedy then grounded out into a fielder’s choice before Skip Schumaker struck out, leaving pinch-hitter Aaron Miles as St. Louis’ final hope to dampen the Cubs’ celebration plans.

In appropriate fashion, Miles flied out to former Cardinal Jim Edmonds in centerfield, which ended the game & punched the Cubs’ ticket to the 2008 postseason.

Ted Lilly (16-9) gets his career-high 16th win for the Cubs after pitching 7 innings & allowed 4 runs on 6 hits.

Joel Pineiro (6-7) takes the loss for the Cardinals after allowing 5 runs on 6 hits in 6 innings of work.

Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 32nd save of the season.

The Cubs still have an outside shot of winning 100 games, but would have to win 7 of their final 9 regular-season games to do so.

Wrigley Field’s final regular-season game will take place tomorrow at 1:20 PM cst, as 2008 NL All-Star Ryan Dempster (16-6, 3.02) will be opposed by Cardinals righthander Braden Looper (12-13, 4.06).

Dempster has pitched very well in the 2nd half of the season, as he holds 2.63 ERA in 11 starts since the All-Star break.

The Cardinals have lost each of Looper’s last 4 starts, which included a 4-3 loss to the Cubs on September 10th at Busch Stadium.

Be sure to visit Cubshub.com during the NLDS for post-season game recaps! The Cubs’ NLDS opponent & rotation has not yet been set.

Signing off for now,