April 4, 2014- Phillies at Cubs - harleyhorse8's Dynasty

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April 4, 2014- Phillies at Cubs

Posted on May 21, 2014 at 12:45 PM.

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Hammel Can't Get it Together as Cubs Lose 4-2

By Andrew Kovalchuk, MLB.com Journalist, April 4, 2014

CHICAGO- After dropping a series to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Chicago Cubs came home to Wrigley hoping to get back on track. Unfortunately, they did not put a smile on the home fans' faces today against the 0-3 Philadelphia Phillies. The Cubs would send Jason Hammel (0-0) to the mound against Kyle Kendrick (0-0).

It got rough for the Cubs early on, as the big righthander would allow consecutive hits to Ben Revere and Tony Gwynn Jr. With no outs, a ball was grounded to second that may have turned to, but Darwin Barney's throw to second was off, loading the bases. Ryan Howard then drew a walk on a 3-1, sending the first run home. With still nobody out, Chase Utley grounded into right, scoring another, but getting Marlon Byrd out at home. Catcher Carlos Ruiz lined to right, but Ryan Howard was cut down at home when he attempted to run on a wild pitch. SS Jimmy Rollins would then pop up behind the plate to end the first.

On the other side, Kyle Kendrick was perfect for the Phils, allowing only one man to reach base on an error. Hammel settled down in the second with a 1-2-3 inning, but added more in the 3rd after Marlon Byrd doubled to score Gwynn, who walked in the previous at bat. With no away, Chase Utley grounded to second for the out, but the Cubs could not stop Byrd from coming around, making it 4-0. This prompted manager Rick Renteria to get the long reliever, Chris Rusin, up in the bullpen. Already in a hole, the Cubs' offense wasn't making Hammel's job any easier. Hammel and Justin Ruggiano both singled in the bottom of the third, but were erased after a double play ball off the bat of LF Ryan Sweeney.

The fourth was uneventful for either team, although the Cubs blew an opportunity after shortstop Starlin Castro, who singled, was gunned down trying to take second. In the fifth, the WGN crew covering the game thought it would be the end of Hammel's day after he gave up consecutive hits with two away, but Utley popped out to retire the side. The same thing happened in the sixth when two runners were sacrifice bunted onto second and third, but Rollins grounded out to leave Hammel with at least a quality start. His day would end when he was pinch hit for by Emilio Bonifacio, so far the only Cub to go yard this season. He would reach on a bunt and later steal second, but the Cubs couldn't make anything of it. Bonifacio was kept in the game, replacing the ineffective Ryan Sweeney.

The Cubs would finally break through in the seventh, after outfielder Nate Schierholtz and 3B Luis Valbuena, making his season debut, reached base and Darwin Barney bunted them over. Catcher John Baker, replacing Castillo in the lineup, scored one on a single and Bonifacio scored the other the same way, making it 4-2. That would be the last gasp for the Cubs, however, as the Phillies bullpen came in and shut them down. On the other side of the ball, Chase Utley hit a 3 run home run off lefthander Wesley Wright to put the final nail in the coffin. Jake Diekman picked up his first save of the year, which was surprising as most thought it would be given to Jonathan Papelbon.

Said Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg, incidentally a former Cub himself, "I guess we just wanted this game more than they did. We weren't particularly better than them, but we wanted to win after being 0-3."

The Cubs' bats were quiet today, as Ryan Sweeney, Darwin Barney, and Anthony Rizzo had no hits. Rizzo's form is especially worrying, as his average drops to .071 and he appears to be slumping, not something you want out of a cleanup hitter. On the other hand, Emilio Bonifacio went 2-for-2 after being substituted into the ballgame. Darwin Barney continued his worrying streak of 4 errors in as many games today as well. For the Phillies, every player in the lineup except the pitcher managed a hit, and first baseman Ryan Howard had a perfect day, going 4-for-4.

Games 2 and 3 are on Saturday and Sunday.

Andrew Kovalchuk covers the NL Central for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ItsAndyK.

Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs
Apr 4, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia (0-3)	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	15	1
Chicago (1-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	9	2
W: Kendrick (1-0) L: Hammel (0-1) S: Diekman (1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			PHI	CHC

Philadelphia Phillies
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Revere, CF	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	.294
Gwynn Jr., LF	4	2	1	0	1	0	0	.235
Byrd, RF	5	2	3	1	0	0	0	.250
Howard, 1B	4	1	4	1	1	0	0	.437
Utley, 2B	5	1	2	5	0	0	1	.267
Ruiz, C	5	0	2	0	0	1	0	.333
Rollins, SS	4	0	1	0	1	1	0	.143
Asche, 3B	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	.143
Kendrick, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Nieves, C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
TEAM TOTALS	40	7	15	7	3	3	1
BATTING: 2B: Byrd (1) HR: Utley (2) RBI: Utley 5 (8), Howard (3), Byrd (2) SAC: Kendrick GIDP: Ruiz
FIELDING: E: Kendrick (1)

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Ruggiano, CF	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.250
Sweeney, LF	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.286
Castro, SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.231
Rizzo, 1B	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.071
Schierholtz, RF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.300
Valbuena, 3B	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.333
Barney, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.308
Baker, C	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	.250
Hammel, P	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000
s-Bonifacio, CF	2	0	2	1	0	0	0	.500
Olt, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167
TEAM TOTALS	32	2	9	2	2	1	0
BATTING: RBI: Bonifacio (4), Baker (1) SAC: Barney GIDP: Schierholtz, Sweeney
BASERUNNING: SB: Bonifacio (2) CS: Castro (1)
FIELDING: E: Castro (2), Barney (4)

Philadelphia Phillies
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Kendrick (W, 1-0)	6.1	8	2	2	1	1	0	2.84
De Fratus (H, 1)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Diekman (S, 1)	2.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0.00

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hammel (L, 0-1)	6.0	9	4	4	3	3	0	6.00
Rusin	1.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Russell	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Wright	0.2	2	3	0	0	0	1	0.00
Villanueva	0.1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	15	7	4	3	3	1
PITCHING: WP: Hammel (1)