It wasn’t really much of a contest at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday afternoon as the Phillies beat the Cubs 12-1 in the final game of the series. It started from the second inning and didn’t really stop at all until the final out was made.
Jeff Samardzija had by far his worst start of the year. Samardzija got through just three and a third innings, he gave up 11 hits and nine earned runs, his ERA exploded to 4.23 for the season. However, it didn’t stop there, Eduardo Sanchez allowed a run on one hit and walked two over two and a third innings. Michael Bowden also allowed two earned runs over an inning of work.
Ethan Martin, the starter for the Phillies, really didn’t have to do much over his five innings of work, but he was very solid. He allowed just four hits and two earned runs. The bullpen for the Phillies was just as solid, they pitched four innings and allowed just one hit.
Offensively the Phillies were led by everyone really. They had eight different players drive in runs and five guys with two or more hits in the game. Cody Asche had three hits for the Phils, it included a home run in the fourth inning and a double in his first at bat. Darin Ruf also homered for the Phillies.
Nate Schierholtz drove in the only run for the Cubs in the fourth inning on a solo home run and that was it for the Cubs. Anthony Rizzo and Donnie Murphy both had doubles in the game for the team.
The real eye opener is in the hitting with runners in scoring position category. Each team had 12 opportunities to hit with runners in scoring position, but the Phillies were 6-12 opposed to the 1-12 for the Cubs. The Cubs also left 11 men on base during the contest.
The next stop for the Cubs will be in St. Louis for three games against the Cardinals over the weekend. The first game is scheduled for tomorrow at 7:15 PM CT at Busch Stadium. The probable starters for the game are, Lance Lynn (13-5) for the Cardinals and Chris Rusin (1-1) for the Cubs.