Carlos Pena sparks as Chicago Cubs defeat Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 - MLB Recap
Chicago Cubs’ first baseman, Carlos Pena was impressive with the bat as he went 3-for-3 with an average of .225 and hit a solo homer with two RBIs in the Cubs’ 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field, Chicago on July 18.
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead from the beginning as Aramis Ramirez hit a solo homer (393 feet) towards left-centre at the bottom of the first inning. In the second inning, Ryan Howard was grounded out to first base and Raul Ibanez also grounded out towards first
base without adding any run to the Phillies’ score-card.
Similarly, the Cubs’ offence also seemed immobilised as Alfonso Soriano popped out to third base and Koyie Hill struck-out swinging at the bottom of the second inning. The Cubs raised their lead 3-0 in the third inning when the batters posted two runs. Ramirez
hit a sacrifice fly off right-field and Rodrigo Lopez scored a single run. The second run was taken by Kosuke Fukudome on the single-run shot of Pena towards right-field.
Starlin Castro occupied second base at the end of third inning. The Phillies contributed their initial run at the top of the fourth inning to cut their deficit 3-1 when Jimmy Rollins struck a one-run homer (404 feet) to right-field. The pitchers took control
during the fifth inning and did not allow a run.
Lopez gave up just one run on five hits with one earned run in his six innings pitched and permitted just one home-run to the Phillies’ batters. He had three strike-outs on his 86 pitches and pitched the ball with an ERA of 3.55.
The Cubs’ batters continued to raise their lead as they took a 5-1 lead at the bottom of the sixth inning by scoring two runs. Hill added one run on the double-run shot of Darwin Barney towards deep left-field and the second run was taken by Barney when
Fukudome doubled off right-field.
In the seventh inning, Pena homered (437 feet) towards centre-field to end the game 6-1 as the last two innings passed score-less for both sides. As a result, the Cubs got a 1-0 lead in a three-game series played at Chicago.
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