Zach Eflin Pitches Strong; Phillies Beat Cubs 6-1
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) — The Phillies' Zach Eflin pitched into the eighth inning as the team snapped a three-game slide Tuesday night with a 6-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Nick Williams had three RBIs and Eflin (2-2) allowed one run and eight hits in a season-high 7 2/3 innings on an unseasonably cool night at Wrigley Field with the wind blowing. The right-hander snapped a two-game skid for his first win since May 7.
Edubray Ramos recorded the final out in the eighth and Seranthony Dominguez got the final three outs — after Ramos walked the leadoff batter in the ninth — to extend his scoreless streak to 14 2/3 innings.
Anthony Rizzo had two hits and an RBI as Chicago's four-game winning streak came to an end.
Kyle Hendricks (4-5) allowed five runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out five and tied a season high with three walks.
The Phillies grabbed the lead in the second when Williams crushed a high drive through the wind and into the right-field bleachers for a two-run shot.
Philadelphia added three more in the third as Hendricks displayed some uncharacteristic wildness. Carlos Santana drove in the first run with a bases-loaded walk. It was Hendricks' second walk of the inning.
Aaron Altherr made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly and Williams capped the rally with an RBI groundout.
Eflin's only jam before the eighth came in the fourth when Rizzo led off with a single and Kyle Schwarber doubled one out later to put runners on second and third. Eflin struck out Javier Baez on a chin-high fastball and retired Albert Almora Jr. on a comebacker to end the threat.
Rizzo doubled to drive in a run with two outs in the eighth, spoiling the shutout bid.
Philadelphia got the run back in the ninth on Altherr's RBI single.
ARRIETA HONORED
After the first inning, the Cubs played a tribute to Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta on the left-field scoreboard. Arrieta spent 4½ seasons in Chicago before signing a $75 million, three-year contract with Philadelphia in March. He started Sunday in San Francisco and is not scheduled to pitch in the three-game series, the Phillies' only visit to Chicago this season. "It would have been really, really cool to get out on that mound again," he said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: INF J.P. Crawford (right forearm strain) was scheduled to play nine innings with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the first game of a rehab assignment.
Cubs: RHP Yu Darvish (right triceps tendinitis) played catch before the game, but there's still no timetable for his return from the DL. . SS Addison Russell (bruised left middle finger) had an MRI and was unavailable.
UP NEXT
Cubs LHP Jose Quintana (6-4, 4.30 ERA) starts the second game of the series looking to turn around his struggles at Wrigley Field this season. Quintana has a 6.66 ERA in five home starts. RHP Aaron Nola (7-2, 2.18) goes for the Phillies. Nola has pitched into the seventh inning in each of his last two starts, allowing one run both times.