Of course newly acquired outfielder Thomas Neal would come up with the chance to win the game just a day after he was added to the 25 man roster. I mean, could it have been more perfect??
Unfortunately for Neal and the Cubs, he flew out to left field to end the Cubs late rally that should have ended two batters before when left fielder Dominic Brown dropped an easy Starlin Castro fly ball.
It started with a Logan Watkins lead off single off of closer Johnathan Papelbon, then David DeJesus doubled off the right field wall and the Cubs were in business. I thought it was classic Cubbies after Junior Lake and Anthony Rizzo both struck out following the two hits.
Then Nate Schierholtz came up and singled up the middle to make the game 9-7. Then came the error by Brown that allowed Schierholtz to score, Castro made it to third on a passed ball, Welington Castillo walked and then Neal flew out to left field to end the Cubs’ comeback bid. The Phillies would win the game 9-8.
The offense finally showed up for the Cubs, but the problem was the pitching was terrible. Edwin Jackson, who had been solid over his past couple of starts returned to his form, he gave up ten hits and seven earned runs over five innings of work. Both Hector Rondon and Michael Bowden allowed earned runs over a combined three innings of work.
The Cubs actually held two three runs leads during the game, one after the second inning when Donnie Murphy hit his first career home run to give the Cubs a 4-1 lead. The other three run lead came after the third inning when Anthony Rizzo hit a solo home run to give the Cubs a 5-2 lead.
Then the Phillies came roaring back, they scored seven unanswered runs over the next six innings. The rally was highlighted by a Chase Utley triple to tie the game in the fifth and two solo home runs, one by Darin Ruf and the other by Carlos Ruiz. Ruiz’s home run came in the eighth and played a huge role in giving the Phillies some insurance before the Cubs made their rally.
It was a group effort for both teams on the offensive side, the Cubs had two guys who had three hits, Schierholtz and Castillo. All other Cubs were held to one or no hits in the ball game. The Phillies were led by Utley who had three hits and two RBI’s. Ruf, Michael Young, and Cody Asche all had two hits for the home team.
The loss pushes the Cubs losing streak to five and they are 2-8 in their last ten games. They will have two more chances at the Phillies before going to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals.
Tomorrow’s game will start at 6:05 PM CT and the probable starters are, Cole Hamels (4-13) for the Phillies and Travis Wood (7-8) for the Cubs.