CHICAGO — First, a championship celebration. Then, a near no-hitter.

It was quite a night at Wrigley Field and in the end it belonged to Ted Lilly — no matter how close Gavin Floyd came to matching him.

Lilly took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before pinch-hitter Juan Pierre led off with a single, and the Chicago Cubs held on to beat the White Sox 1-0 Sunday night in a revved-up old ballpark.

"There was so much energy," Lilly said. "I can't remember that much energy. I guess I'd have to go back to 2001 in the World Series, some of the big game-winning homers, to get that kind of a feeling."

Floyd flirted with a no-hitter of his own for the White Sox before Alfonso Soriano doubled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Chad Tracy followed with a single, producing the game's only run.

The last time two big league teams were both held hitless through 6Z\x innings was July 13, 1980, in a game between the Yankees and White Sox.