Cubs 7, Phillies 1
CHICAGO -- Jake Arrieta held the Philadelphia Phillies offense in check and the Chicago Cubs offense provided a well-rounded attack in a 7-1 victory on Sunday.
Arrieta (2-1) tossed 6 2/3 strong innings of one run ball, giving up only three hits, while striking out four and walking three.
With the Cubs clinging to a one-run lead in the fourth inning, Welington Castillo gave Arrieta some breathing room and broke the game open off Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick.
Donnie Murphy opened the inning with a single and Brian Bogusevic roped a line drive that got stuck in the vines in left field for a ground-rule double. Castillo followed and knocked both men in when he ripped a double that bounced all the way to the wall in the left-center field gap.
Castillo advanced to third on Arrieta's fly ball to right and came around to score on Darwin Barney's sacrifice fly. It appeared that Castillo would be out at the plate, as right fielder Darin Ruf's throw beat him by a few steps, but catcher Erik Kratz failed to catch the ball cleanly and Castillo slid in safely to put the Cubs up 5-1.
The Phillies had cut the Cubs lead in half in the top of the fourth when Ruf hit a one-out homer into the basket in left-center field, his 12th home run of the season. But that was the closest the Phillies got as Kendrick failed to shut down the Cubs' offense in the bottom half of the inning.
Kendrick (10-12) gave up eight hits and five runs in his six innings of work and has struggled in his last nine starts, posting a 2-5 record with a 6.70 ERA.
The Cubs got on the board early off Kendrick when Ryan Sweeney lined a two-out single just over the outstretched glove of shortstop Jimmy Rollins and into centerfield to score Barney and put the Cubs up 1-0 in the first.
They added to their lead in the third when Starlin Castro scored on a Anthony Rizzo double off the top of the wall in right field, putting the Cubs up 2-0.
With 2 1/3 shutout innings on Sunday, the Cubs' bullpen held the Phillies scoreless in their final 6 1/3 innings of work, helping Chicago snag the final two games of the weekend series.
NOTES: With rosters expanding, the Cubs recalled OF Sweeney, 3B Luis Valbuena and RHP Alberto Cabrera. The Cubs indicated more callups will be coming once the minor league season ends, which for Class AAA Iowa is Monday. ... Entering Sunday, SS Castro was hitting .365 with a .961 OPS in 24 games against the Phillies. ... The Phillies made a pair of moves on Saturday evening. 3B Michael Young was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Class AA LHP Rob Rasmussen, and INF John McDonald was traded to the Boston Red Sox for minor league RHP Nefi Ogando. INF/OF's Cesar Hernandez and Michael Martinez were recalled from Class AAA Lehigh to take their spots on the active roster.
