Philadelphia, PA – Donnie Murphy's three-run homer in the ninth inning lifted the Chicago Cubs to a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.
With two on and two out in the ninth, Murphy clubbed a homer deep of Justin De Fratus to deep left field, capping a 3-for-3, four-RBI performance which also included an early solo homer. Junior Lake had two hits and an RBI for the Cubs, who snapped a five-game losing skid.
"I knew he didn't want to put another guy one, I knew I had an advantage after facing him last night and he just gave me a good pitch to hit," said Murphy.
Pedro Strop (2-1) tossed a scoreless eighth to get the win and Kevin Gregg spun a perfect ninth frame to nail down his 23rd save of the season.
Luis Garcia (0-1) was charged with the loss after putting two runners on in the ninth inning,
"We have guys in that bullpen that are going to be good, we just don't know who they are right now," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.
Starter Cole Hamels gave up just two runs on six hits without issuing a walk over seven innings. Over his last seven starts, Hamels is just 2-2 despite posting 2.16 earned run average.
Domonic Brown crushed a leadoff homer into the bullpen in right-center field to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but Murphy's first homer of the night tied things up in the third.
Murphy sliced a line drive down the right field line that bounced off the top railing on the fence and bounced into the foul pole before landing in the stands.
Chicago took the lead in the fifth inning. Cody Ransom hit a leadoff double, Murphy was plunked, then Ransom moved to third on Travis Wood's groundout before scoring on Lake's base hit to shallow center.
The Phils managed to tie the game in the seventh. John Mayberry doubled to start, moved to third on an Erik Kratz flyout before scoring on Chase Utley's pinch-hit single to center field.
After Michael Young followed with a walk, Kevin Frandsen laced a single to right field. Utley rounded third and broke for home, sliding into the plate as Cubs catcher Dionner Navarro fielded Cole Gillespie's throw. At the last second, Utley popped out of his slide and drove his shoulder through Navarro's chest, bending the catcher's ankle awkwardly.
Navarro held on to the throw and recorded the out, but was carted off the field and taken to a local hospital for X-rays, which came back negative. The injury is considered a contusion.
Game Notes
Cubs outfielder Thomas Neal also left the game in the seventh inning with a dislocated right shoulder ... Murphy had just one homer entering the contest ... The Cubs were 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position ... Brown joined Pat Burrell and Scott Rolen as the only two Phillies players to hit at least 25 homers in a season at age 25-or-younger ... Philadelphia went 2-for-8 with RISP and left nine runners on base ... Prior to the game, MLB.com reported that the Phillies and Utley had agreed to terms on a contract extension. According to that report, the club has been discussing an extension with the fan-favorite second baseman for several weeks. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has frequently stated that he envisioned Utley as a "Phillie for life", but terms of the deal were not available.
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