Segura stays hot, Phillies beat Cubs
Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto each homered to lift the visiting Philadelphia Phillies past the Chicago Cubs, 9-7, on Thursday.
Segura had two hits for his 18th multi-hit game of the season. Scott Kingery, Sean Rodriguez and Andrew McCutchen each added two hits for the Phillies, who built a 7-0 lead and then held on to snap a two-game losing streak.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola (5-0) tossed 5 1/3 innings and gave up four hits and three runs. Hector Neris earned his eighth save in eight chances despite a shaky ninth.
Anthony Rizzo homered among his four hits, while Kyle Schwarber had a home run among his two hits. Jason Heyward walked four times.
Cubs starter Jon Lester (3-3) lasted only four innings and allowed seven hits and seven runs, four of which were earned. Lester has allowed 12 runs in his last two starts after allowing a total of eight in his first seven starts of the season.
The Phillies struck for two early runs in the top of the first inning as Bryce Harper singled home McCutchen. Harper eventually came around to score the second run on a wild pitch by Lester.
Segura led off the third with a double, extending his hitting streak to 14 games. One out later, Rhys Hoskins hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Segura for a 3-0 advantage. Realmuto then crushed a solo homer for a 4-0 lead.
The Phillies scored a fifth run thanks to a throwing error in the fourth, and Segura then hit a two-run homer to left-center field for a 7-0 lead in the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Schwarber walked to lead off, and Javier Baez doubled to the gap in left center. Rizzo then singled to center, scoring both runners as the Cubs closed within 7-2.
The Cubs then loaded the bases with no outs and added a third run, but it came on a costly double play by Albert Almora Jr.
Odubel Herrera's RBI groundout in the fifth pushed the lead to 8-3.
Schwarber blasted a two-run homer off Pat Neshek in the seventh and the deficit was cut to 8-5. Rizzo added a solo shot off Neshek to make it 8-6.
--Field Level Media
