Worley Dominates As Phillies Beat Cubs 9-1
CHICAGO (AP) -- Vance Worley dominated over eight innings, Jimmy Rollins homered from both sides of the plate and the Philadelphia Phillies pounded Ryan Dempster and the Chicago Cubs 9-1 on a scorching Wednesday at Wrigley Field.
It was another standout performance by Worley (6-1), who won his fourth straight start and continues to give the Phillies all they could ask for with Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton injured.
The 23-year-old right-hander allowed one run and four hits while striking out seven and walking two, and he got all the support he needed.
Rollins hit solo shots batting left-handed off Ramon Ortiz in the sixth and from the right side against John Grabow in the eighth. It was the second time in his career that he went deep from both sides and his first multi-homer game this season. He has seven in his career.
Dempster (7-7) lasted just three innings, giving up six runs and seven hits.
Michael Martinez had two hits, two steals and scored two runs for Philadelphia. Chase Utley added two RBI doubles and scored one, and the Phillies broke this one open early on their way to an easy win.
With the gametime temperature at 97 degrees, they jumped on Dempster with two runs in the first, three in the second and another in the third.
That was plenty for Worley, who did not allow a hit until Geovany Soto singled with one out in the fifth. The pitcher also helped himself at the plate when he doubled with two out in the second to start that rally.
The Phillies got an RBI single by Ryan Howard and an RBI groundout by Shane Victorino in the first, after shortstop Starlin Castro lost Martinez's pop fly in the sun for a base hit and Utley walked.
Back-to-back two-out doubles in the second by Worley and Rollins along with a run-scoring single by Martinez and an RBI double by Utley made it 5-0. Brian Schneider doubled in a run in the third. Utley added another RBI double against Ortiz in the fourth, making it 7-0.
The Cubs scored in the seventh on Soto's fielder's choice grounder with the bases loaded, but the game was well out of hand by then.
Notes: A Ricketts family spokesman denied a report that chairman Tom Ricketts has talked to longtime baseball executive Pat Gillick. "While Tom respect's Pat Gillick's Hall of Fame career, reports of a conversation are unfounded," spokesman Dennis Culloton said, adding there's been no contact between them. WSCR-AM in Chicago, citing major league sources, reported Wednesday that Ricketts and Gillick spoke as recently as last week, fueling speculation that the Cubs might be interested in hiring the newly elected Hall of Famer in some capacity. Ricketts was not available for comment. He gave general manager Jim Hendry a vote of confidence last month and said he's not interested in bringing someone in to oversee the baseball operation. ... Dempster's shortest start this season - and in his career - came at Arizona on April 28, when he gave up seven runs in one-third of an inning. ... 1B Carlos Pena committed two errors when he bobbled Rollins' grounder in the fourth and threw wildly to the bag. That gave the Cubs at least one in nine straight games, matching their longest streak since June 4-13, 1987. ... The Phillies are 23-10 in day games
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