PHILLIES NEWS

The Phils returned home tonight to begin a series with the Chicago Cubs. The Phils had won 8 in a row coming in and Cubs had 4 in a row, allbeit against the Nationals, so something had to give. That something turned out to be the left arm of Ted Lilly whom the Phils knocked around for 9 runs on 8 hits in just 4 innings. Meanwhile, Rodrigo Lopez turned in another solid outing for the Phils, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits in 6 innings for his 2nd win in 3 starts. As for the how the Phils scored all of those runs, lets run them down shall we? With 2 out in the bottom of the 1st Raul Ibanez slammed a 3 run homer to dead center for a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the 2nd Carlos Ruiz crushed a 2 run homer for a 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the 4th Ruiz slapped an RBI double, Jimmy Rollins hit a sac fly, Alphonso Soriano blew an easy catch to allow Ruiz to score and finally Chase Utley slapped an RBI single for a 9-0 lead. Last but not least in the bottom of the 8th Ryan Howard destroyed a solo homer to left field for a 10-1 lead. Oh and lest we forget Chad Durbin pitched the last 3 innings in relief, keeping Chicago scoreless in all 3. So it was total team effort for the Phils tonight, but really Chicago beat themselves in this one and here's hoping they continue to do so for the rest of the series. I am impressed with the way Lopez has performed for the Phils so far. Years ago he was twice a 15 game winner for the Orioles and it sure seems like he has rediscovered that form. All of which begs the question, what will the Phils do with him once Pedro is ready. I would think they have to at least keep him in the bullpen for the time being, which just means the Phils would have send Tyler Walker back down to AAA where he probably belongs for now anyway. Pedro will definitely have to come out with his best stuff right off the bat or he'll be quickly replaced by Lopez. So anyway the Phils are now 52-38 overall and still 6.5 games up in the NL East.