Phillies Vs Cubs: Phillies Drop Series Opener To Cubs, 5-1

The Philadelphia Phillies opened their series against the Chicago Cubs with a 5-1 loss Friday night. Philadelphia built a lead throughout the night and aside from one run in the seventh inning, the Phillies were unable to respond.

Roy Halladay was on the mound for Philadelphia, and he put the Cubs down 1-2-3 for the first three innings. Chicago was able to break things open in the fourth, after Tony Campana reached on a bunt single, stole second, and Starlin Castro brought him home with a single. That was it for the fourth, but Chicago struck again in the top of the sixth, as Tony Campana reached on an infield hit and advanced on a Bryan LaHair single. Alfonso Soriano added another single, scoring Campana, and LaHair scored on an Ian Stewart double, making it 3-0 Cubs. Halladay then put a stop to things, getting Darwin Barney to ground into an inning-ending double play that saw Soriano thrown out at the plate.

The Phillies' lone run came on a Ty Wigginton solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the top of the eigth saw Halladay relieved by Antonio Bastardo. Bastardo pitched the eigth and gave up one hit but no runs. Michael Schwimer would take the mound for Philadelphia in the ninth, and the Cubs would add a few more runs to their total. Geovany Soto got aboard on a walk and then scored on a triple from Reed Johnson, and Johnson was knocked in by a David DeJesus single. The bottom of the ninth saw Shane Victorino, Ty Wigginton and Carlos Ruiz come to the plate for the Phillies, but none were able to reach base, leaving the final score 5-1 Cubs.

Game two of the series is at 7:05pm, and the expected pitching matchup is Joe Blanton for the Phillies taking on Randy Wells for the Cubs.

For all things Philadelphia Phillies, check out The Good Phight. If you're a Cubs fan, head over to Bleed Cubbie Blue. For everything else baseball, SB Nation's MLB hub is what you need, and don't miss SB Nation on YouTube: