Afternoon Box Score: Phillies Upend Cubs

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 13, 2009 9:20PM

A day after getting walloped by the Phillies bats, the Cubs were shut down by the Phillie's recently acquired pitching ace Cliff Lee, as Philadelphia took a 6-1 win today from the Cubs. The win gave the Phillies a series sweep, a season series victory (5-1), and the Cubs have now lost 6 of their last 7. It was a pitcher's duel until the fourth inning when the Phillies finally got to Cubs starter Ryan Dempster. Slugger Ryan Howard smacked his 27th homer of the year, a 3-run shot, and Pedro Feliz followed him with a solo homer of his own to put the Phillies up 4-0. The Cubs tried to claw back into the game when Ryan Theriot singled in Jeff Baker in the bottom of the fifth, but it's all the damage the Cubs offense would inflict on Philadelphia. With two more runs scored off of Dempster in the later innings, the Phillies put the game out of reach. Dempster struck out eight over seven innings but also gave up six earned runs on eight hits in the loss. For the series, the Cubs were outscored by Philadelphia by a total of 22-9. With the loss, the Cubs find themselves 4.5 games back of idle St. Louis. Thankfully for the Cubs, the Pirates - who have struggled mightily on the road - come to town next for a three-game stand starting tomorrow afternoon.