Rookie lefthander Cole Hamels (9-8), Jon Lieber (9-10) put together solid performances, lefthander Jamie Moyer (10-14) recovered from a rocky 1st inning and the offense delivered timely hitting as the Phillies swept the 3 game series from the Florida Marlins by 5-2, 8-6 and 10-7 scores.   With the sweep and the Phillies’ winning streak at 5, they moved into the wildcard lead on Saturday by 1/2 game over the L.A. Dodgers who defeated http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/ari Arizona on Friday by a 2-0 score, lost to them on Saturday by a 9-3 score, but won on Sunday by a 5-1 score.

        Friday: The Hamels and Howard Show…

On Friday, Cole Hamels won his 9th game of the season with another solid performance giving up one run on 6 hits, while striking out 10 and walking 3 and baseball’s homerun leader, 1st baseman Ryan Howard (58 HRs, 143 RBIs, .313 BA) provided a big 3 run blast to left field to lead the Phillies to a 5-2 victory in the opening game of the series.     The Phils jumped out to a 1-0 lead off of Marlins rookie starter and losing pitcher Rickie Nolasco (11-10) in the 1st inning as 2nd baseman Chase Utley (31 HRs, 98 RBIs, .309 BA) singled in a run, the first of his slump-breaking 3 hits for the game.

In the 3rd inning, Howard hit his 3 run shot with one out off of Nolasco to extend the Phils’ lead to 4-0.

Rookie Nolasco didn’t last through the 4th inning, being relieved after getting into a 2 on, 2 out jam.  Reliever Reynel Pinto (0-0, 3.51 ERA, S1) got the side out in the 4th and pitched the 5th inning as well.
Nolasco’s line was 4 runs on 7 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.

Florida got a run in the 5th on 3rd baseman Miguel Cabrera’s (25 HRs, 111 RBIs, .336 BA) RBI single to right field.

In the 6th inning, rightfielder Jeff Conine (10 HRs, 65 RBIs, .274 BA) capped the Phils’ scoring with an RBI single off of reliever Matt Herges (1-3).  After 6, the Phils led 5-1.

In the 7th, with 2 outs, reliever Geoff Geary (7-1, 3.02 ERA, S1) relieved Hamels and got the 3rd out. 

The Marlins scored their 2nd and final run in the 8th off of Geary on catcher Miguel Olivo’s (16 HRs, 58 RBIs, .267 BA) 2 out RBI single.  Lefthanded reliever Matt Smith (0-0. 0.00 ERA), who is unscored upon in 22 relief appearances this season with the Yankees and the Phils, was brought in to face a righthanded pinch hitter and retired the side.

In the 9th inning, closer Tom Gordon (3-4, 3.04 ERA, S33) successfully recorded his 33rd save to seal the win.
        

                     Saturday:  Lieber, Conine, Ruiz Star…

On Saturday, the Phils got out of the gate in a hurry scoring 3 runs off of Marlins starter Brian Moehler (7-10) along with another fine pitching performance by winning pitcher Jon Lieber (9-10) who gave up just 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 6 and walking none through 7 innings.  The Phillies led 6-2 after 6 innings enroute to an 8-6 victory in their 2nd game of the series with the Marlins.

Chase Utley singled in a run and catcher Carlos Ruiz (3 HRs, 10 RBIs) singled in 2 runs to stake the Phils to an early 3-0 lead in the 1st inning off of losing pitcher Moehler.   Ruiz struck again in the 3rd inning with a run-scoring double off of Moehler as the Phils’ lead increased to 4-0.

The Marlins scored 1 run in the 4th with 1 out as centerfielder Alfredo Amezaga (3 HRs, 18 RBIs, .262 BA) got an RBI on a ground out to the pitcher.

After the Phils got a runner on in the bottom of the 4th inning on a 1 out single, Moehler was relieved by Herges who got out of the inning after getting into a 2 on, 2 out jam by walking Ryan Howard intentionally.  4-1 Phillies after 4 innings.

In the top of the 6th, Amezaga singled in the 2nd Marlins’ run.  In the bottom of the 6th, shortstop Jimmy Rollins (24 HRs, 76 RBIs, .279 BA) clubbed a solo blast to right centerfield and Conine drove in a run with a line single to left field.  6-2 Phillies after 6 innings.

In the Florida 8th inning, reliever Ryan Madison (10-9) replaced Lieber and was tagged for a 2 out, 2 run homer by rightfielder Joe Borchard (10 HRs, 28 RBIs) as Florida cut the score to 6-4.  The Phils got the 2 runs back in the bottom of the 8th inning as Jeff Conine came through with a 2 run double off of reliever Taylor Tankersley (2-1, 3.03 ERA, S3).  8-4 Phillies after 8 innings. 

Closer Tom Gordon was brought in to pitch the 9th inning and was tagged with solo homers by catcher Miguel Olivo and shortstop Hanley Ramirez (15 HRs, 57 RBIs, .289 BA) before retiring the side in the 9th inning to end the game.
 

         Sunday: Phillies Sweep on Moyer’s Finesse, 7 Run 3rd Inning

Lefthander Jamie Moyer got off to a rocky start giving up 4 runs in the first inning as Hanley Ramirez led off with a solo homer to leftfield, 1st baseman Wes Helms (10 HRs, 45 RBIs, .314 BA) doubled a run and centerfielder Cody Ross 13 HRs, 45 RBIs) clubbed a 2 run shot.

But Moyer settled down after that and the Phils more than made up the deficit as they exploded for 7 runs in the 3rd inning knocking out Florida’s starter and losing pitcher Scott Olsen (12-9, 3.97 ERA).

Olsen was pounded as Rollins and Utley each clubbed 2 run homers to leftfield and rightfield respectively. Utley’s was the first of his two for the game.  Catcher Chris Coste (7 HRs, 30 RBIs, .324 BA) broke the 4-4 tie and capped the 7 run inning by belting a 3 run shot. After the onslaught of homers, Olsen hit 3rd baseman Abraham Nunez (2 HRs, 28 RBIs) with a pitch with 2 out in the 3rd and was ejected from the game by plate umpire Mark Wegner.

According to Yahoo’s game recap;

Olsen denied trying to hit Nunez.

“They were hitting the ball. You’ve got to move feet,” he said. “You’ve got to go inside and move them off the plate a little.” 
 

Reliever Jose Garcia then relieved Olsen and got the side out in the 3rd inning.  7-4 Phillies after 3 innings.

The Phils scored 1 run in the 4th on Utley’s RBI single to right field off of Garcia.  Utley went 3 for 4 for the game and drove in 4 runs.

In the Florida 6th, Wes Helms hit a solo shot, his 2nd homer of the game, off of Moyer to give the Marlins their 5th run.  In the bottom of the 6th, Utley hit his 2nd homer of the game, a solo shot off of Garcia to put the Phils up by 9-5 after 6 innings.

Leftfielder Pat Burrell (27 HRs, 91 RBIs) clubbed a solo shot to cap the Phils scoring in the 7th. 10-5 Phillies after 7 innings.

Moyer was replaced for the 7th inning by Ryan Madison and by Geoff Geary in the 8th inning.  They both shut down the Marlins on 1 hit apiece.

Florida scored their final 2 runs in the 9th inning as 1st baseman Mike Jacobs (20 HRs, 77 RBIs, .274 BA) replaced Helms and clubbed a 2 run shot off of reliever Rick White (4-1, S1) who pitched the 9th inning for the Phllies.

For full recaps including box scores and play-by-play on Friday’s, Saturday’s and Sunday’s games click here, here and here.

On Monday, the Phils pay a make-up game with the Houston Astros as
lefthander Randy Wolf (4-0) goes against rookie Matt Albers (0-2) for the Astros.  The phils then head for Washington for 3 games with the Nationals.

For full coverage of all of Monday’s games in both leagues; previews, recaps, box scores and play-by-play coverage click here.

Brett Myers (12-6) put on a masterful 12 strikeout performance in pitching first complete game in 13 months while 2nd baseman Chase Utley (29 HRs, 92 RBIs, .300 BA) and leftfielder Pat Burrell (26 HRs, 90 RBIs) each homered as the Phillies beat Chicago by a 6-2 score, taking 2 of 3 games from the Cubs.

In winning, the Phils moved into a tie for the NL wild card lead with the L.A. Dodgers, as the Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates by a 6-4 score.  San Diego, in first place in the NL West ahead of the Dodgers by 1/2 game, also lost to Arizona by an 8-2 score. 

As reported on this blog on Monday, The Phillies won a coin toss to be host of a one-game playoff against the Dodgers or San Diego Padres if they ended tied for the wild-card spot.

The Cubs jumped out to a short-lived 1-0 lead in the 4th inning as
1st baseman Scott Moore (2 HRs, 4 RBIs, .263 BA) hit an RBI single.

In the bottom of the 4th, after walks to rightfielder Jeff Conine (10 HRs, 61 RBIs, .263 BA) and Pat Burrell with none out, catcher Mike Lieberthal (9 HRs, 35 RBIs, .279 BA) followed by doubling to left driving in Conine as Burrell went into 3rd base.  3rd baseman Abraham Nunez 2 HRs, 28 RBIs) followed with an RBI single scoring Burrell — still none out.  Cubs starting and losing pitcher Les Walrond (0-1)was pulled at that point and relieved by Michael Wuertz (3-1, 2.83) who retired the side.

In the 5th inning, the Phils scored their 3rd run as 1st baseman Ryan Howard doubled with 1 out, as fans continue to chant “MVP”, and scored on Burrell’s RBI single off of Cubs reliever Jae Kuk Ryu (0-0).  3-1 Phillies.

In the 6th inning, after shortstop Jimmy Rollins (22 HRs, 73 RBIs, .275 BA) hit a lead-off double, Utley clubbed a 2 run homer to rightfield off of Ryu to widen the Phils lead to 5-1.

Burrell capped the Phils scoring with a 1 out solo shot to centerfield off of reliever Roberto Novoa (2-1).

The Cubs scored their 2nd and final run in 8th inning as 2nd baseman  Freddie Bynum (3 HRs, 9 RBIs), who had tripled to deep center, scored on 3rd baseman Aramis Ramirez’ (35 HRs, 111 RBIs, .291 BA) groundout to shortstop.

Yahoo’s Game recap reported;

Brett Myers’ power pitching was the perfect complement to Jamie Moyer’s crafty style and boosted the Phillies into a tie for the NL wild-card lead.

The Phillies (79-73) won for the seventh time in nine games and pulled even when Los Angeles lost to Pittsburgh 6-4 a few hours later. It’s the first time this year Philadelphia has held a share of the wild-card lead,

Manager Charlie Manuel likes having Myers pitch behind Moyer.

“They have two different styles. It doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you get the job done,” he said.

Walrond allowed two runs and three hits, striking out six in three-plus innings in his second career start. His start was the 73rd by a rookie pitcher for the Cubs this season.

Myers recorded his eighth career double-digit strikeout game, third this season.

For a full recap including box scores and play-by-play on Wednesday’s game click here.

The Phillies have the day off on Thursday before hosting the Florida Marlins for a 3 game series through Sunday.  On Friday, excellent rookie lefthander Cole Hamels (8-8) goes for the Phillies vs Marlins rookie Rickie Nolasco (11-9). On Saturday, Jon Lieber (8-10) goes for the Phils vs Brian Moehler (7-9) for the Marlins and in Sunday’s get-away game, lefthander  Jamie Moyer (9-14) goes for the Phils vs Florida’s 2nd year lefthander  Scott Olsen (12-8, 3.87 ERA).

The Phillies hope to come out of this weekend in sole possession of 1st place in the NL wild card chase.

Let me take this opportunity to wish my Jewish brethren viewing this blog regularly a L’Shana Tova.   May we all only know happiness, fulfillment and unity in this year and in all years to come.

For full coverage of all of Thursday’s through Sunday’s games in both leagues; previews, recaps, box scores and play-by-play coverage click here, here, here and here.

Another excellent pitching performance over 7 innings by lefthander Jamie Moyer (9-14) and a 2 out, 3 run rally in the 5th inning carried the Phillies to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs to even their series a victory apiece.

In winning the game, coupled with the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-6 win over the NL wild card leading L.A. Dodgers, the Phillies moved to within 1 game of the wild card lead.

For 4 innings, Moyer and losing pitcher Wade Miller (0-2) were locked in a scoreless pitching duel.

But with 2 outs in the 5th inning, amidst the chants of “MVP” which accompany 1st baseman Ryan Howard’s (57 HRs, 140 RBIs, .312 BA) every plate appearance, Howard singled.  He scored on a headfirst dive after Dellucci clubbed a line double into the left-center field gap. That was it for starter Miller.  He was relieved by reliever Roberto Novoa (2-1). 

Leftfielder Pat Burrell (25 HRs, 88 RBIs) drew a walk from Novoa and then catcher Chris Coste (6 HRs, 27 RBIs, .315 BA) reached 1st base on a felding error by the shortstop to load the bases.  3rd baseman Abraham Nunez (2 HRs, 27 RBIs) then laced a clutch 2 run single to right centerfield and the Phils were up 3-0.  Novoa then retired pitcher Moyer on a ground out to 3rd base to end the inning.

About the Cub error, Phils manager Charlie Manuel let loose with one of his gems;

“If you put the ball in play, things can happen,” Manuel said. “Sometimes you don’t have to hit the ball real hard if you find the right place.”

In the 6th, leftfielder Matt Murton (13 HRs, 60 RBIs, .297 BA) got the Cubs on the board with their only run on a solo homer to leftfield off of Moyer.

After pitching 7 innings and giving up 1 run and spreading out 6 hits and striking out 3, walking none, the bullpen took over for Myer shutting down the Cubs the rest of the way on just 2 hits.  Closer Tom Gordon (3-4, 3.15 ERA, S32) pitched the 9th inning earning his 32nd save.

Manager Manuel raved about Jamie Moyer and his work ethic;

The Phillies traded two minor league prospects to the Mariners for Moyer on Aug. 19.

“He’s a true professional,” Manuel said. “He’s at the ballpark real early. He does his work. He’s prepared. He really studies the hitters. He’ll call people about hitters. He’s very demanding of himself. He might not light up a radar gun, but he’ll get you out.”

The Phils closed out the scoring in the 8th inning on shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ (22 HRs, 73 RBIs, .274 BA) solo homer to rightfield.

For a full recap including box scores and play-by-play on Tuesday’s game  click here.

On Wednesday, the Phillies try to win the 3 game series by sending Brett Myers (11-6)  vs the Cubs young lefthander Les Walrond (0-0).  On Thursday, the Phils have an open day and on Friday, they entertain the Florida Marlins for 3 games through Sunday.

For full coverage of all of Wednesday’s games in both leagues; previews, recaps, box scores and play-by-play coverage click here.

On Monday, September 18, 2006, the L.A. Dodgers and San Diego Padres played a wild but memorable game at Dodger Stadium.

For 8 innings, it was a close, but ordinary game with San diego leading after 8 by a 6-5 score.  The Padres struck in the 1st inning for 4 runs and the Dodgers worked through the 1st, 2nd and 3rd innings to knot the score at 4-4.

The game remained tied at 4 until the Padres broke through with 2 in the 8th and the Dodgers got 1 back in the bottom of the 8th.

In the San Diego 9th inning, the Padres went ahead scoring 3 runs on Dodger rookie reliever Takashi Saito (5-2, 2.28 ERA, S19) as 1 run scored on a Saito wild pitch, another run scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by shortstop Geoff Blum (4 HRs, 30 RBIs, .260 BA) and 2nd baseman Jesse Barfield (12 HRs, 55 RBIs, .282 BA) singled in the 3rd run.  Going into the Dodgers 9th inning, the Padres held a 9-5 lead.

The Padres put in reliever Jon Adkins (2-1, 3.51 ERA) to finish the game, but it was not to be. 

2nd baseman Jeff Kent (14 HRs, 67 RBIs, .288 BA) led off the inning for the Dodgers with a solo blast to centerfielder as did the next hitter, rightfielder J.D. Drew (17 hrs, 88 RBIs, .276 BA) whose homer was to rightfield.  That was it for Adkins. Padres closer Trevor Hoffman (0-2, 2.09 ERA, S39) relieved Adkins.  Both catcher Russell Martin (10 HRs, 59 RBIs, .286 BA) and former Phillie, leftfielder Marlon Anderson (9 HRs, 30 RBIs, .295 BA) solo homered off of Hoffman on 2 consecutive pitches.  Martin’s shot was to leftfield and Anderson’s shot was to rightfield, his 2nd homer of the game, the other also a solo shot in the 2nd inning.  And so, 4 hitters for the Dodgers, 4 consecutive homers.  The feat had only been duplicated only 3 other times in Major league history;

• June 8, 1961; Milwaukee vs Cincinnati, 7th inning
• Cleveland vs Los Angeles Angels, July 31, 1963, 2nd game, 6th inning
• The most recent instance; Minnesota vs Kansas City, May 2, 1964, 11th inning

(Source: Sporting News — Complete Baseball Record Book; Most Consecutive Home Runs, Inning)

And so, the game went into extra innings tied at 9-9.

Catcher Josh Bard (7 HRs, 35 RBIs, .319 BA) put San Diego up in the 10th by 10-9 with a 2 out RBI single off of reliever Aaron Sele (8-6).  But in the Dodger 10th, another former Phillie, centerfielder Kenny Lofton (2 HRs, 36 RBIs, .302 BA) led off with a walk from Padres reliever Rudy Seanez (3-3).

1st baseman Nomar Garciaparra (18 HRs, 84 RBIs, .305 BA) followed with a dramatic 2 run walk-off home run off of losing pitcher Seanez to win the game for the Dodgers by an 11-10 score.   Sele, who gave up the Padres run in the top of the 10th, was awarded the win.

For a full recap including box scores and play-by-play on Monday’s Dodgers, Padres game, click here.

3rd baseman Aramis Ramirez (35 HRs, 110 RBIs, .293 BA) drove in 7 of  Chicago’s first 8 runs while going 4-5 for the game as the Cubs got off to an 8-0 lead on the Phillies enroute to an ugly 11-6 win at Philadelphia’s  Citizen’s Bank Park. 

In losing, the Phillies dropped to 2 games behind the NL wild card leading  San Diego Padres who dropped a wild 11-10 game to the L.A. Dodgers in 10 innings as those two teams keep exchanging the NL West and NL wild card leads. 

The Phillies won a coin toss to be host of a one-game playoff against the Dodgers or San Diego Padres if they ended tied for the wild-card spot.

The Cubs lit into Phils starter and losing pitcher Jon Lieber (8-9) for 3 runs to start the game on 3rd baseman Aramis Ramirez’s first of two 3 run homers, a blast to left centerfield, in the game before Lieber retired the next 3 hitters to end the 1st inning.  Lieber seemed to straighten out in the 2nd inning, retiring the side in order. 

In the 3rd inning, the Cubs continued the scoring as leadoff hitter, centerfielder Juan Pierre (3 HRs, 37 RBIs, .290 BA) clubbed a solo homer and Ramirez got an RBI single as the Cubs lead increased to 5-0 and Eude Brito (1-2) was sent in to relieve Lieber. Brito retired the side in the 3rd.   

With one out in the 4th inning, Brito gave up Ramirez’2nd round- tripper, a 2 out 3 run shot to centerfield as the Cub lead swelled to 8-0.  Ramirez became the sixth Cub to have 35 homers and 35 doubles in a season. He has 17 career multihomer games, four this year.

In the Phillies 4th inning, with one out, the Phillies loaded the bases as 1st baseman Ryan Howard (57 HRs, 140 RBIs, .312 BA) was hit by a pitch followed by singles by rightfielder Jeff Conine (10 HRs, 60 RBIs, .268) and leftfielder Pat Burrell (25 HRs, 88 RBIs).  Cubs lefthander Sean Marshall (5-9) then uncorked a pitch which got past catcher Henry Blanco (5 HRs, 28 RBIs, .265 BA) as Howard scored and Burrell and Conine moved up to 2nd and 3rd base respectively.  Catcher Chris Coste (6 HRs, 27 RBIs, .315 BA) singled driving in Conine as Burrell advanced to 3rd base.  3rd baseman  Abraham Nunez (2 HRs, 25 RBIs) was then walked loading the bases.  Recent acquisition from Pittsburgh, pinch hitter Jose Hernandez (3 HRs, 19 RBIs, .268 BA) then belted a grand slam homer. The game was suddenly tight at 8-6 and starting to resemble some of the classic Wrigley Field  Phillies-Cubs games of the 1970s.  But alas, Marshall was yanked after allowing 6 runs on 5 hits in 3 1/3 innings and 5 Cubs relievers shut down the Phillies allowing them only 2 hits over the final 5 2/3 innings.

The Cubs scored their 9th run in the 5th inning off of reliever Brian Sanches (0-0) as 1st baseman Scott Moore (2 HRs, 3 RBIs) hit a solo homer. 

In the 9th inning, the Cubs capped their scoring with 2 runs off of reliever  Ryan Madison (10-9).  Shortstop Ronny Cedeno (6 HRs, 38 RBIs) tripled driving in 1 run and pinch hitter Matt Murton (12 HRs, 59 RBIs, .297 BA) drove in Cedeno with a single.

Reliever Michael Wuertz (3-1, 2.83 ERA) was awarded the win after pitching a perfect 2 inning stint at the Phils in the 5th and 6th innings.

For a full recap including box scores and play-by-play on Monday’s game  click here.

Recently acquired Wade Miller (0-1) goes for the Cubs on Tuesday vs Phillies lefthander Jamie Moyer (8-14) as the Phils hope to pull even in the 3 game series.

For full coverage of all of Tuesday’s games in both leagues; previews, recaps, box scores and play-by-play coverage click here.

Phillies 1st baseman Ryan Howard (HRs 57, 140 RBIs, .314 BA) hit homer #57, one of 4 Phillie homers, 7 between the 2 teams for the game and lefthander Randy Wolf (4-0) got the Phils into the 6th inning with a lead which stood up as the Phils swept the Houston Astros winning by a 6-4 score.  The sweep was the first by the Phillies of the Astros since May 2002.  With the win, the Phils stayed a game behind the L.A. Dodgers for the NL wild card lead as the Dodgers fell to the San Diego Padres by a  2-1 score and the Padres took over the NL West Division lead.

The Phils opened up the scoring on losing pitcher lefthander Wandy Rodriguez (9-10) with a run in the 1st inning on rightfielder Jeff Conine’s 10 HRs, 61 RBIs, .269 BA) ground-rule double to rightfield.

In the 3rd inning, shortstop Jimmy Rollins (21 HRs, 72 RBIs, .274 BA) and Howard each solo homered off of Rodriguez to give the Phils a 3-0 lead.  In the 4th, catcher Mike Lieberthal (9 HRs, 34 RBIs, .279 BA) solo homered, his 1st of 2 homers for the game and the Phils led 4-0 after 4 innings.

Rodriguez pitched 5 full innings for Houston giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and was relieved by Dave Borkowski (1-2) in the 6th inning.  With 2 out and the bases jammed, Borkowski uncorked a wild pitch and leftfielder Pat Burrell (25 HRs, 88 RBIs) came home with the Phillies 5th run. 

The Astros scored 3 runs off of Wolf in their half of the 6th inning to narrow the gap to 5-3.  2nd baseman Craig Biggio (19 HRs, 51 RBIs) clubbed a solo homer to leftfield and rightfielder Aubrey Huff (18 HRs, 60 RBIs, .265 BA) whacked a 2 run shot to left centerfield.   Rich White (4-1, S1) relieved winning pitcher Wolf with 2 out in the 6th and struck out leftfielder Jason Lane (14 HRs, 44 RBIs) looking to end the inning.  White pitched a 1-2-3 7th inning.  Wolf once again pitched well except for the 3 run 6th inning. He gave up 5 hits, struck out 5 and walked 2.

In the 8th inning, Lieberthal hit his 2nd homer of the game, another solo blast off of reliever Russ Springer (1-1, 3.72 ERA) to cap the Phillies scoring.  6-3 Phillies. 

In the bottom of the 8th inning, 1st baseman Lance Berkman (41 HRs, 122 RBIs, .311 BA) solo homered to right centerfield off of Phils reliever  Geoff Geary (7-1, 2.99 ERA, S1) to end the scoring for the Astros.

Closer Tom Gordon (3-4, 3.15 ERA, S31) pitched the 9th inning for the Phils and was credited with the save although he got into a bit of trouble with 2 on and 2 out before retiring the side to end the game.

For a full recap including box scores and play-by-play on Sunday’s game  click here.

On Monday, the Phillies return home for 3 games with the Chicago Cubs followed by 3 games with the Florida Marlins as the Phils drive to take over the NL wild card lead. 

In the opener with the Cubs, the Phils send Jon Lieber (8-9) to the mound to oppose Cubs lefthander Sean Marshall (5-9).

For full coverage of all of Monday’s games in both leagues; previews, recaps, box scores and play-by-play coverage click here.