Almost instantly on a windy Wednesday afternoon in South Philly, the Phillies were behind the eight ball. Starter Vince Velasquez threw two pitches, recorded one out, and then it was a bullpen game against MLB’s best team by a mile.
Right away, you figured there was a decent chance that the Phils were in for a long afternoon. And, unsurprisingly, things didn’t turn out well. The Chicago Cubs offense proved relentless, banging out 13 hits against the Phillies bullpen in an 8-1 win at Citizens Bank Park.
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- Vince Velasquez leaves game after two pitches with right biceps soreness
- Eickhoff, Howard fuel Phillies to victory over the Cubs
Pete Mackanin can take some solace in the fact that his team doesn’t have to face the 41-17 Cubs again after Chicago took the season series easily, 5-1. October is always a crapshoot, but these Cubs appear more than capable of breaking the long World Series drought that hangs over the franchise.
"The only good news is we don't have to see the Cubs the rest of the year," Mackanin said.
Brett Oberholtzer entered the game for Velasquez, and he was the only member of the Phillies bullpen (besides Elvis Araujo in mop-up duty) that found some success against the Cubs lineup. The left-hander was able to work in and out of trouble, despite Chicago continuing to put runners on base. In four innings pitched, Oberholtzer gave up one unearned run on four hits and a walk.
The game was played in windy conditions after a strong storm rolled into Citizens Bank Park about an hour before the game, but only one offense was able to take advantage. As has been the story often lately, it wasn’t the Phillies.
After Oberholtzer left the game, the Cubs wasted no time blowing the game wide open. Andrew Bailey came on in relief and gave up a couple of long home runs to Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo in the sixth inning that made the score 4-0 Cubs. They would add four more in the eighth inning of Colton Murray.
Just like a couple of weeks ago at Wrigley Field, John Lackey shut the Phillies offense down. In seven shutout innings, the veteran pitcher only allowed three hits while striking out eight. At one point, Lackey retired 16 consecutive Phillies.
The first two batters of the game, Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez, reached base on singles but an unwise early decision by third base coach Juan Samuel got Herrera thrown out at the plate on a sacrifice fly. After that, Lackey settled down and went into cruise control.
"I thought we might get Lackey on a bad day but he just attacked our weaknesses and we only got the one more hit through the rest of the game," Mackanin said.
Ryan Howard, starting for the second consecutive day, went 0 for 3 at the plate after hosting a reading event on the field for children with his wife Krystle prior to the game.
The Phillies scored their only run of the game in the ninth inning off lefty Clayton Richard. First baseman Tommy Joseph worked a four-pitch walk and came around to score on a Hernandez groundout. As Joseph crossed the plate, the remaining fans in attendance could only offer a sarcastic cheer.
Herrera not getting votes
MLB released the latest update in fan voting, and despite currently sitting fifth among all outfielders in WAR, Odubel Herrera wasn't one of the National League's 15 highest vote-getters. The top four vote-getters in the National League are all currently (and not surprisingly) Cubs. This isn't very surprising considering the Phillies aren't a major playoff threat, but it would be nice to see Herrera rewarded for the strong season he's putting together.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann