Philadelphia Phillies 4, Chicago Cubs 3
Rich Harden had his best stuff tonight and at times looked nearly unhittable. He took advantage of a more generous strike zone than J.A. Happ had and worked through the Phillies order with ease in the early going. Meanwhile Happ struggled with his command as he danced through raindrops before surrendering two runs in the third. However, one word can be used to describe the Phillies' effort tonight: gritty. The Phils fought tough, were patient, and found a way to beat the Cubs, 4-3 on three hits.
Happ was not his normal, confident self tonight as he seemed rattled at times on the bump. Perhaps it was playing at historic Wrigley Field or perhaps it was pitching so close to his hometown. Either way he allowed an uncharacteristically high number of base runners, but survived six innings. The Cubs lacked the one big hit to put the game out of reach, but Brad Lidge blew his seventh save of the season in the ninth after the Phillies took the lead. A strong performance by Scott Eyre (2-1) earned the win and Chad Durbin picked up the save.
No one disputes that Rich Harden is one of the best pitchers in the game today. He had everything working to his advantage as he was perfect through the first 16 batters. Backed by a few circus-type catches by Milton Bradley in right field, Harden did not surrender a base hit until Jimmy Rollins crushed a two-out, two-run homer to tie the game in the sixth. The Phillies would add a run later on a bases loaded walk to Ryan Howard against Carlos Marmol. In the top of the 11th inning, Ben Francisco came through with a wall-scraping homer for the winning margin.
This was an important game for the Phillies. They came out after the sweep at home and looked lost. Rich Harden was dealing and it looked like the Phils would have their offense shut down again. But great teams find ways to win, even with three hits, and the Phillies did just that. They fought back after a blown save by Lidge to win the ballgame. On the eve of Pedro Martinez's inaugural start with Philadelphia, they improved to 62-48.
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