For most of Tuesday night’s game, it looked like the Cubs would notch another surprising win against one of the best pitchers in the NL. They got to Cliff Lee early in his outing, as Starlin Castro launched the first pitch he saw into the basket in left field for his second home run of the season, putting the team up 2-0.
But that was all the scoring the Cubs would muster in their outing. Lee settled down, allowing no more runs until he was pulled after seven innings, giving up eight total hits and striking out six. The Cubs had their chances throughout the game to get more runs off of Lee, but couldn’t capitalize. They had base runners in the bottom of the second, fifth, and sixth innings, but couldn’t get any clutch hits when they needed them.
This wasted a fine effort by Matt Garza. He gave up just four hits and three walks, while striking out five, over seven strong innings. The only run he was charged with was plated after he left the game, when Sean Marshall allowed an RBI double to Chase Utley. Marshall ultimately would also give up another RBI double in the top of the ninth that gave the Phillies their 4-2 lead. Three straight strikeouts by Antonio Bastardo in the bottom of the inning later, and Philadelphia had closed out their comeback victory.
The last game of the series will be on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:20 P.M., CDT.