Phillies 8, Cubs 7
WP – Roy Halladay (4-3, 3.22)
LP – Chris Volstad (0-6, 7.46)
SV – Jonathan Papelbon (11)
CHICAGO — The Phillies are over .500 for the first time since being 1-0, a weight that has finally been lifted off their collective shoulders.
They extended their winning streak to five games with a 8-7 win over the Cubs. The momentum is fully in their favor, and it’s shown during the current five-game winning streak the Phillies are on.
Chris Volstad was yanked after he allowed four runs in the first two innings to the Phillies. With the early 4-1 lead given to Roy Halladay at that point, he was able to coast through the rest of the game, ending a five-game winless drought.
Halladay went eight innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, striking out four. He gave up a pair of solo home runs to Alfonso Soriano in the 1st and Wellington Castro in the 8th.
The Phillies struck right away in the 1st inning. Carlos Ruiz, who has been on some kind of unworldly tear, got things going with an RBI single to right to score Jimmy Rollins.
The floodgates opened up on Volstad in the 2nd inning. Halladay it a one out single to start the rally. Rollins then walked and Juan Pierre singled to load the bases.
Shane Victorino brought Halladay home on a slow ground out to second base. Then Hunter Pence ripped a two-run single to score Rollins and Pierre to make it a 4-1 game.
Volstad reloaded the bases with Ruiz’s second hit of the game but Ty Wigginton struck out to end the threat. It ended Volstad’s night after two innings, his shortest start of the season.
The Phillies added another run in the 5th on Ruiz’s second RBI of the night and third hit of the game. Chooch finished the game 4-for-5 with three RBIs, giving him 27 RBIs on the season.
It was the fourth four-hit game in Ruiz’s career.
With the game already well inhand, the Cubs did their best to let it get out of hand in the 8th inning.
With runners on second and third and two outs, Pence reached on a throwing error that scored two runs, making it a 7-2 game. Ruiz’s third RBI, a two-out double, made it an 8-2 game.
Chicago made it interesting in the 9th inning. Jake Diekman, coming off a hot debut in which he was perfect against four batters, gave up a bases-clearing three-run double to Castillo to make it a 6-4 game.
Jonathan Papelbon then came in, giving up Diekman’s inherited run to make it an 8-7 game before retiring Reed Johnson to end the game.
2B: Pence (7), Ruiz (8).
TTB 