Philadelphia, PA – Placido Polanco hit a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-4 win over the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a four-game set at Citizens Bank Park.
The Cubs had erased a four-run deficit, tying the game on Bryan LaHair's two- run homer off Chad Qualls (1-0) in the top of the eighth. But Philadelphia quickly responded against the Chicago bullpen.
Scott Maine (0-1) hit pinch-hitter Juan Pierre with one out. After Freddy Galvis popped out in foul territory, Rafael Dolis took over on the mound and gave up a single to Jimmy Rollins before Polanco drove a 2-0 pitch to left field.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched around a leadoff walk in the ninth to earn his eighth save of the season and secure a series split for the Phillies.
"Those wins are awesome. They can be momentum wins that turn everything around and get us going strong," said Phillies second baseman Pete Orr.
Philadelphia starter Vance Worley pitched in and out of trouble while limiting the Cubs to one run on five hits and two walks in seven innings.
Chris Volstad started for Chicago and settled down after a rough first inning in which the Phillies put up a four-spot.
The Phillies mustered five singles against the right-hander in the home first. Hunter Pence plated Jimmy Rollins, who led of by bunting for a hit, and scored along with Shane Victorino on Carlos Ruiz's ground ball to right field. Laynce Nix worked a two-out walk in front of Ruiz to load the bases and came home on Orr's base hit.
Volstad allowed only three more hits through his six frames of work.
"I was happy with my last five innings," Volstad said. "I felt like I put the team in a hole in the first (inning), then kept us in the game."
Chicago had chances to cut its deficit, placing two men in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings. Each time, however, Worley escaped unscathed by getting Alfonso Soriano and David DeJesus to fly out.
The Cubs threatened again in the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. But they scored only one run when Geovany Soto grounded into a double play.
Antonio Bastardo replaced Worley to begin the eighth and issued a one-out walk to Tony Campana, who stole second after Qualls entered the game and scored on a single by Starlin Castro. LaHair followed with a blast to right-center field.
Game Notes
The last time the Phillies (11-12) had a sub-.500 April was in 2007, when they went 11-14 in the month...LaHair has reached base safely in 19 straight games and has hit five of the Cubs' nine home runs this season...Volstad has gone 0-8 in 16 starts since his last victory on July 10, 2011...The Phillies have never lost a series to the Cubs at Citizens Bank Park, going 7-0-2...The Cubs haven't won consecutive games in Philadelphia in a single season since April 6-7, 2001.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.