Notes From The Phillies’ 2-1 Loss To Chicago

The Philadelphia Phillies had their three-game winning streak snapped on Friday night, falling to the Cubs 2-1. Their record drops to 28-37.

• Roberto Hernandez failed to make it out of the sixth inning again, but kept the Phillies in the game, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks in 5.2 innings.
• This time around, Hernandez wasn’t removed for ineffective pitching, but rather he was ejected for hitting Starlin Castro with a pitch in the sixth inning.
• The Phillies scored their lone run in the ninth inning. Jimmy Rollins began the inning with a double, which tied him with Mike Schmidt for the team’s hit record. Domonic Brown singled home Rollins with two outs, but that was all the team was able to put together.
• The Phils barely generated any threats throughout the game. In the other eight innings, they managed just three hits.
• Tony Gwynn started in center and hit at the top of the order. Gwynn went 0-3, dropping his average to .155.
• Chase Utley and Ryan Howard combined to go 0-8.
• Mario Hollands got the final out of the sixth inning.
• Antonio Bastardo pitched two scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth.
• Justin De Fratus threw a clean ninth.

Final Thoughts

It didn’t take the Phils long to get back to their losing ways.

What is Ryne Sandberg thinking hitting Tony Gwynn Jr. in the lead-off spot?

Gwynn hasn’t had a base hit since the middle of May, and with his .155 average on the season, he’s not exactly a guy that’s going to be sparkplug for the lineup.

John Mayberry should have played center tonight. At least Mayberry has given the team a handful of productive games recently. Or at the very least, if Sandberg had to put Gwynn in his lineup, he should have batted out of the eighth spot and allowed Jimmy Rollins to bat at the top of the order.