Even though All-Star selection Sunday is nearing quick, the Cubs got big contributions from a pair of rookies who could be just 48 hours away from making their 1st ever Midseason Classic apperances at legendary Yankee Stadium.

The Chicago Cubs got solo homers from Kosuke Fukudome & Geovany Soto, plus 6 strong shutout innings from Carlos Zambrano to edge the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Friday evening from Busch Stadium.

Kosuke Fukudome got it started in the top of the 1st inning, as he belted a 1-out solo homer (7th of season) off Cardinals starter Braden Looper to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis had a chance to tie things up in the bottom of the 2nd inning after Chris Duncan drew a 2-out walk from Chicago starter Carlos Zambrano.

Yadier Molina then singled to put runners at 1st & 2nd with 2 outs.

Tony LaRussa has been notoriously known for batting his pitcher’s spot 8th, but it backfired as Braden Looper struck out to end the inning.

The Cardinals had another chance to tie the game in the bottom of the 3rd inning after Skip Schumaker hit a 1-out single off Zambrano.

Schumaker was then able to steal 2nd base during Aaron Miles’ at-bat, who flied out to Ryan Theriot in shallow center field.

Albert Pujols then ended the scoring threat with a foulout to Aramis Ramirez at 3rd base.

The Cubs then struck for another run in the top of the 4th inning thanks to Geovany Soto’s 2-out solo homer (14th of season), which gave Chicago a 2-0 lead.

Chicago had a chance to add onto their lead in the top of the 5th inning after Ryan Theriot hit a lead-off single against Looper.

Carlos Zambrano then grounded out to 1st base, but was able to advance Theriot to 2nd on the play.

Reed Johnson then flied out to Rick Ankiel in center field & Kosuke Fukudome struck out to end the scoring threat.

The Cubs had another chance to add onto their lead in the top of the 6th inning after Derrek Lee hit a lead-off double against Looper.

3 batters later, Geovany Soto drew a walk to put runners at 1st & 2nd with 2 outs for Mark DeRosa.

Lee was able to advance to 3rd base on a wild pitch from Looper, but catcher Yadier Molina gunned down Soto at 2nd base to end the scoring threat.

Carlos Zambrano got himself out of another tough jam in the bottom of the 6th inning after Albert Pujols hit a 1-out infield single.

Rick Ankiel then drew a walk to put runners at 1st & 2nd with just 1 out for Troy Glaus.

Glaus fouled out to Aramis Ramirez at 3rd base & Chris Duncan was retired on a fielder’s choice to end the inning & a fantastic outing from Zambrano.

The Cardinals scored their only run in the bottom of the 8th inning on Albert Pujols’ 2-out solo homer (18th of season) to make it a 2-1 Cub lead.

The homer by Pujols was number 300 of his career, which makes him the 5th youngest player in league history to reach that milestone.

St. Louis had 1 final chance to rally in the bottom of the 9th inning after Yadier Molina hit a 2-out bloop single to left field off Chicago closer Kerry Wood.

Wood then ended the game by getting pinch-hitter Ryan Ludwick to ground out to Mark DeRosa at 2nd base.

Carlos Zambrano (9-3) picks up the win in a very impressive 1st start back from the DL, as he pitched 6 shutout innings & allowed 4 hits while striking out 5 batters.

Zambrano also lowered his ERA to 2.96, which ties him alongside the Mets’ Johan Santana for 5th best in the National League.

With Zambrano’s win, the Cubs are now the only team in baseball that sports 3 different pitchers with at least 9 wins. Ted Lilly & Ryan Dempster are the other two starters with 9 wins apiece.

Braden Looper (9-6) takes the loss for the Cardinals after pitching 7 innings & allowing 2 runs (both solo homers) & 6 hits while striking out 5 batters.

Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 22nd save of the season. Kerry has not allowed a run in 15 of his last 16 apperances, dating back to May 26th against Los Angeles.

The Cubs’ NL Central lead increased to 3.5 games with their win on Friday.

Chicago will now look to win this series on Saturday afternoon at 2:55 PM cst, as southpaw Ted Lilly (9-5, 4.56) will be opposed by St. Louis righthander Kyle Lohse (10-2, 3.67)

Lilly is coming off a very successful month of June in which he finished with a 4-1 record in 6 starts with a 3.02 ERA. The Cubs have won 10 of Lilly’s last 12 starts since he beat the Cardinals on May 3rd at Busch Stadium.

Lilly is 4-2 in 7 career starts against St. Louis with a 3.06 ERA.

Lohse is already just 4 wins shy of tying his career-high (14 wins with Minnesota in ‘03) & is 5-1 in 10 home starts this season with a 2.77 ERA.

Lohse is 1-2 in 5 career starts against Chicago with a 5.92 ERA. The Cardinals have won 8 of Lohse’s last 9 starts dating back to May 18th against Tampa Bay.

Cubs play-by-play man Len Kasper did mention during tonight’s game that Sean Gallagher has been demoted to the bullpen, so southpaw Sean Marshall will start Sunday afternoon’s finale against St. Louis.

Signing off for now,