Placido Polanco’s grand slam helps Philadelphia Phillies defeat Chicago Cubs 7-5 – MLB Update
Placido Polanco hit a grand slam and Roy Halladay threw seven shut-out innings on Friday, June 10 to lead Philadelphia Phillies toward a 7-5 win over the Chicago Cubs at the Citizens Bank Park.
Throwing 106 pitches, Halladay is now the first nine-game winner this season."You want to go as far as you can, but it made sense to me," Halladay said. “Most of the starters -- we've been grinding. There's obviously a long ways to go. Any time you can save
a few, it'll pay off down the road."
Much that Halladay did on Friday was backed by an equally aggressive Phillies’ offence. Ryan Howard was first to score in the very first inning, a lead that was tripled by Domonic Brown as he drove in two-run homer in the second inning. Halladay kept pounding
the Cubs’ offence unlike Carlos Zambrano who had given up three runs by then.
Placido added a new twist in the game with his magnificently hit grand slam in the seventh inning as Zambrano struggled to contain the unstoppable Phillies’ hitters. Polanco homered to left to make a supposedly strong 7-0 lead.
Polanco, who hardly got chance to play lately, dispelled the impression that his inclusion or exclusion in the line-up frustrates him. "I don't even think about that," Polanco said about his spot in the line-up. "When I'm in the batter's box, I don't really
think I'm hitting fifth or I'm hitting second. I just try to do my job."
Once the lead was secured, the Phillies brought a surprising change in the strategy. Jose Contreras relieved Halladay and his arrival proved an impending disaster for the Phillies. The Cubs went ahead with a five-run eighth inning.
Chicago suddenly rose to the occasion as Aramis Ramirez drove in a two-run homer, as Geovany Soto scored a single. As if that was not enough, Luis Montanez hit another two-run homer to bring the Cubs close to the Phillies with a 7-5 score.
However, with the Cubs back in the game with renewed energy, Michael Stutes did not disappoint his team’s choice to dispatch him for pitching in the ninth inning.
Stutes went out strongly against the Cubs offence and threw an unhittable inning, resulting in a well-deserved 7-5 victory for the Phillies who had lost their last game against the Cubs by 4-3.
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