Phillies Beat Cubs 11-5 For Series Sweep
CHICAGO (AP) — Ryan Howard homered for the second straight day, rookie Aaron Nola got his first major league win and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 11-5 on Sunday to complete a three-game series sweep.
Maikel Franco also went deep as the major league-worst Phillies collected 17 hits in their eighth win in nine games since the All-Star break. Franco and Domonic Brown each drove in three runs a day after Cole Hamels threw no-hitter against the Cubs.
Nola (1-1) allowed four runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings in his second career start. The touted prospect also had an RBI single in Philadelphia's three-run fourth.
With the game out of hand, Cubs catcher David Ross pitched a perfect ninth. He then hit a solo homer in the bottom half of the inning.
Chicago right-hander Jason Hammel (5-5) was tagged for six runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings in his second outing since he was hampered by left hamstring tightness in a loss to St. Louis on July 8. He dropped to 0-3 with a 4.10 ERA in his last eight starts.
Addison Russell and Dexter Fowler homered, but the Cubs lost for the fourth time in five games.
The 22-year-old Nola, the seventh overall selection in the 2014 draft, lost 1-0 to Tampa Bay in his major league debut last Tuesday. But he got plenty of support in this one.
Franco capped Philadelphia's three-run first with a two-run drive to left for his first homer since June 23.
Fowler walked and scored on Bryant's sacrifice fly in the bottom half, and the Cubs added another run in the third on Fowler's ninth homer. But the game quickly got out of hand from there.
Brown hit a two-run triple in the fifth and Howard added a two-run shot in the eighth as Philadelphia opened an 11-2 lead. Howard also belted a three-run drive in the Phillies' 5-0 win on Saturday. He has 18 homers on the year.
NEXT UP FOR HAMELS?
Fresh off baseball's third no-hitter of the season, Hamels is preparing to start for Philadelphia on Thursday.
But the ace left-hander could be on the move after he struck out 13 in the 13th no-hitter in franchise history for the Phillies. He has been mentioned prominently in trade talks ahead of Friday's non-waiver deadline.
Hamels threw a season-high 129 pitches in his first win since May 23, but said Sunday he was feeling good.
"Everything felt more in sync than it had," he said. "I don't feel like I threw as many pitches as I did. That's a good sign. It means I was throwing correctly."
UP NEXT
Phillies: LHP Adam Morgan (1-2, 4.28 ERA) is scheduled to start on Tuesday at Toronto.
Cubs: RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-5, 3.66 ERA) takes the mound on Monday night at Wrigley Field against Colorado's Jorge De La Rosa (6-4, 4.62 ERA).
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