Walker, Harper’s key hit lead red-hot Phillies to sweep of Cubs
Final Score: Phillies 3, Cubs 1
The Phillies walked into Wrigley Field last September in need of a pick-me-up. Their Wild Card lead had slipped throughout another tough final month of the season, and the 67-86 Cubs represented an opportunity.
The Phillies scored three runs all series. They got swept.
If that series made Wrigley Field a house of horrors for the Phillies given the circumstances, that designation lasted all of nine months.
The Phillies walked into Wrigley Field this week to square off against a Cubs team that had won nine of its last 11 — and brought that hot stretch to a screeching halt. This time, it was the Phillies who earned the sweep, capped by another brilliant performance from Taijuan Walker on Thursday.
Walker fired six innings of one-run ball against the Cubs, scattering six hits and punching out six for his fifth consecutive win.
He had a lead before Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks had thrown multiple pitches. Kyle Schwarber, not quite ready to bid farewell to June as the calendar wanes, swatted the first pitch of the ballgame above the mini scoreboard down the right field line at his former home ballpark for a 1-0 lead.
The Phillies missed an opportunity to pad the lead after Trea Turner’s ensuing double and stolen base put a man on third with no outs, but they redeemed themselves in the third, after the Cubs had tied it.
Kody Clemens and Turner singled to eventually put ducks on the pond with two outs, and Bryce Harper — who had been 2-for-20 since last Thursday amid his much-longer power outage — poked a two-out, two-run single to center for a 3-1 lead.
Walker took it from there, working around brutal dropped fly balls by Schwarber in the fifth and Brandon Marsh in the sixth to keep the lead at two.
Yunior Marte — whose high-leverage usage is somewhat understandable, given his electric stuff — Gregory Soto and Craig Kimbrel got through the final three innings without any problems, aided by some J.T. Realmuto wizardry.
The win moves the Phillies to a season-high six games over .500, and it wraps the season series with the Cubs at 5-1.
Shibe Vintage Sports Notes
- Somehow, Taijuan Walker has been the Phillies’ second-best starter of the past month — but that’s strictly a testament to Ranger Suárez, because Walker has been outstanding:
- A reminder, as another strong June from Schwarber nears its end:
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Friday, June 30 vs. Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park
- 6:05 p.m. Eastern
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: SportsRadio 94WIP
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