April 6, 2014- Phillies at Cubs - harleyhorse8's Dynasty

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April 6, 2014- Phillies at Cubs

Posted on May 29, 2014 at 08:11 PM.

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Cubs Propelled to Victory off the Back of Castro Home Run

By Andrew Kovalchuk, MLB.com Journalist, April 6, 2014

CHICAGO- The fans today at Wrigley Field weren't expecting anything special. After all, the Cubs (1-4) had already lost the series. Jeff Samardzija (0-1) was looking decent but hardly inspiring. And when the ball met the bat of Phillies (2-3) first baseman Ryan Howard in the top of the second, all the fans in the crowd groaned, knowing it was a home run before it left the park.

Good teams may have been able to pull one back, but 14 hits in three games is not the mark of a good team. And with the struggles the Cubs offense, especially Anthony Rizzo, Welington Castillo, and rookie Mike Olt, had been having, the one-run lead felt like five to the fans on the North Side of Chicago. Immediately after the homer, murmurs swept the crowd. Would Samardzija lose it in the second? Would he put the game out of reach as the two previous starters had done? Thankfully Samardzija recovered on the mound, and one other hit would be all he would allow in his tenure on the rubber.

The Cubs may have had a good chance in the fourth. With two on, a perfectly-placed sacrifice would put two into scoring position. Any ball in play, bar a pop-up, would tie the game, maybe even put the Cubs in the lead. But Emilio Bonifacio struck out with one away, and the ground ball that would have plated Baker at third didn't mean anything with two outs.

Then it happened. You may have said that it didn't look like Phillies lefty Cliff Lee (0-1) had been bringing his best stuff. The Cubs had managed a few hits, but none that mattered. Then it happened in the sixth. With two outs, Darwin Barney squeezed a ground ball between the first and second basemen. Then, shortstop Starlin Castro stepped to the plate. While he is a top player of the future, Castro hasn't shown very much clutch with 2 down. But that didn't matter today. On the 1-2 pitch, Lee laid in a cut fastball and Castro connected with a mighty swing that sent the ball to the heavens. Within seconds of the baseball plunking down in the upper deck, Wrigley was rocking.

And rocking it stayed, as Samardzija continued his good form through seven innings, posting three 0-0-0s and striking out six. The bullpen, who have been good with the lead so far, kept up the work as closer Jose Veras collected his second save of the season.

Several of the Cubs who have been struggling so far, like Rizzo and Castillo, came through with a hit today. Not so for Junior Lake, who struck out three times in his 0-for-4 day. On the other side of the ball, the Phillies were held to only two hits thanks to seven solid innings from Jeff Samardzija. His performance is a great way to restore Chicago's confidence in their starters, who have not looked at all impressive early this season.

Following this, the Cubs will play host to the Pirates on the 8th, 9th, and 10th after getting tomorrow off. The Phillies will also be at home, as they take on the Brewers in interdivision play on the 7th, 9th, and 10th.

Andrew Kovalchuk is an independent journalist who covers the NL Central for MLB.com. He also writes for Sporting News and SBNation.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ItsAndyK.

Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs
Apr 6, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia (2-3)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
Chicago (1-4)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	x	2	6	0
W: Samardzija (1-1) L: Lee (0-2) S: Veras (2)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			PHI	CHC

Philadelphia Phillies
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Revere, CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.240
Gwynn Jr., LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.208
Byrd, RF	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	.167
Howard, 1B	4	1	1	1	0	2	1	.364
Utley, 2B	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	.238
Ruiz, C	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.286
Rollins, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.105
Asche, 3B	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.111
Nieves, C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Lee, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Mayberry Jr., RF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
s- Altherr, 3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TEAM TOTALS	29	1	2	1	2	7	1
BATTING: HR: Howard (3) RBI: Howard (5)

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bonifacio, RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.300
Barney, 2B	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.294
Castro, SS	4	1	1	2	0	1	1	.250
Ruggiano, CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.238
Lake, LF	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	.091
Olt, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.111
Rizzo, 1B	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.095
Baker, C	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	.333
Samardzija, P	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.500
Castillo, C	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.154
TEAM TOTALS	29	2	6	2	1	7	1
BATTING: HR: Castro (1) RBI: Castro 2 (3) SAC: Samardzija (2)