On Friday, the Chicago Cubs took down the Philadelphia Phillies in Game One of the series by a score of 4-0. Cubs pitchers shut down a dangerous Phillies lineup on a day when the wind was as unpredictable
Colin Rea continues to impress
A pleasant development for the Cubs this season has been the rise of pitcher Colin Rea. After beginning the season in the bullpen, Rea was promoted to the starting rotation after an injury to Cubs Ace Justin Steele. The former Brewer has responded by putting up ace-caliber numbers for Chicago thus far this season.
He would continue that effort against Philadelphia. In five innings, he would shut out the Phillies and allow just three hits. He would strike out seven and walk just two.
In the bottom of the second inning, Jon Berti would double to center field, which would score Pete-Crow Armstrong. The speed of Crow-Armstrong set this up for this run as he would steal second before the double.
In the third inning, Chicago added to their lead on a Nico Hoener single to shallow center. This scored Michael Busch and sent Dansby Swanson to second base.
For the third straight inning, the Cubs would give Rea one run of support. This time, it was thanks to a double off the bat of Ian Happ, which scored Berti. Happ has been on a heater as of late and has improved his season slashline to .274/.353/.385. for a .738 OPS.
Cubs’ Bullpen pitched very well
The fifth inning would be uneventful for both clubs. But Cubs reliever Caleb Thielbar would enter in the sixth and sit down three of the four batters he faced for a clean inning of work.
Still unable to generate any offense, the Phillies would face Brad Keller in the top of the seventh. Much like Thielbar and Rea before him, he shut down the Phillies’ offense. This did come with more traffic, however, as he would allow a hit and a walk before retiring three straight Phillies.
After a delightful seventh inning stretch sung by comedian Theo Von, the Cubs turned to small ball to give themselves more insurance. With a 3-0 lead in hand, Crow-Armstrong would bunt to score Swanson and would reach first safely on an error. He then promptly stole second for his MLB-leading 12th swipe.
Drew Pomeranz would make his Wrigley debut as a Cub and would handle the 8th inning without surrendering a run, striking out two in the process. And to finish the Phillies off, Cubs manager Craig Counsell deployed the fireballing Daniel Palencia, who wouldn’t allow a baserunner en route to a 4-0 win for the Cubs.
Great start for the Cubs
The Cubs improve their season record to 17-10 and have also extended their lead in the NL Central to 3.5 games over the second-place Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs and Phillies will square off again on Saturday for Game Two of a three-game series. Ben Brown and Jesus Luzardo are set to square off for each club on the mound.
Cubs handle Phillies in 4-0 win – Game 27 Recap