Phillies beat the Cubs, 5-3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - April 11, 2008 Myers pitched eight strong innings and Pat Burrell hit a tiebreaking double in the sixth inning, helping the Philadelphia Phillies snap Chicago's five-game winning streak with a 5-3 victory Friday night.

Burrell also ripped a two-run homer off Carlos Zambrano.

Myers (1-1) allowed three runs on solo homers to earn his first win since moving back into the starting rotation. He gave up five hits and struck out five.

"I definitely felt a lot more aggressive," Myers said. "I felt I threw pitches with conviction instead of lollipopping them up there."

Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano connected off Myers, who finished last season as Philadelphia's closer.

The Phillies won without shortstop Jimmy Rollins for the first time in three tries. The 2007 NL MVP hasn't been in the starting lineup since he sprained his left ankle Tuesday.

Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Zambrano (1-1) gave up five runs and nine hits in six innings. He pitched on regular rest, even though he moved up a day after Jason Marquis was scratched Thursday because of illness.

"He didn't really throw all that well," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He wasn't overpowering."

Ryan Howard lined a double to left-center to start the bottom of the sixth against Zambrano. Burrell, trying to hit the ball the opposite way to move Howard, ripped an RBI double to right field to put the Phillies ahead 4-3. Carlos Ruiz added an RBI single to make it 5-3.

Burrell is batting .519 (14-for-27) with six homers and 12 RBIs in his last nine games against the Cubs. He leads the Phillies with four homers and 12 RBIs this season.

If Rollins doesn't return soon, Burrell needs to continue his hot-hitting. When Chase Utley missed a month last season, Burrell picked up the offensive slack. He had eight homers and 21 RBIs in the 28 games Utley sat out with a broken hand.

"When guys get hurt, especially MVP-caliber guys, you have a hard time winning," Burrell said.

A questionable call allowed the Phillies to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth. After Shane Victorino drew a two-out walk, Greg Dobbs hit a drive that center fielder Kosuke Fukudome chased down in the alley. But Fukudome dropped the ball after running into left fielder Soriano and Dobbs was ruled safe, allowing Victorino to score on the double.

Piniella came out to argue because Fukudome took two steps before the ball fell out of his glove. He walked away scratching his head after listening to third base umpire Tim Welke's explanation.

"I did catch the ball," Fukudome said through an interpreter. "As I ran past Soriano, the tip of my glove hit his leg or torso. Once it popped out, there was nothing I could do."

Soriano made up for his gaffe by leading off the sixth with his second homer to tie it at 3.

Lee and Ramirez hit consecutive shots in the first inning to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Burrell's two-run homer tied it in the fourth. Burrell was 1-for-10 against Zambrano before he went deep.

"He's hitting the ball to right field with authority," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He's swinging real good."

Zambrano was a better pitcher on the road than at home last year, going 12-4 with a 3.06 ERA outside Wrigley Field. After three starts, it's been the opposite this year.

Notes:
Fukudome went 0-for-4. He had reached safely in his first nine games. ... Ramirez surpassed Mark Grace for 11th on the Cubs all-time list with his 149th homer since joining Chicago. It was his 500th career extra-base hit. ... The Phillies are 7-1 in the last eight games Myers has faced the Cubs.

Copyright © 2024 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.