A five-game winning streak wasn’t enough to lift the Chicago Cubs out of last place in a tightly packed National League Central.
But the Cubs will get another chance to torment another NL East team on Monday night, when they continue a homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a four-game series.
Colin Rea (2-0, 3.63 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the Cubs against Aaron Nola (1-1, 4.03) in a battle of right-handers.
Both teams continued going in opposite directions while completing a home series Sunday. The Cubs closed out a three-game sweep of the New York Mets with a 2-1, 10-inning win, while the Phillies suffered their fifth consecutive loss as the Atlanta Braves finished a three-game sweep with a 4-2 victory.
The series is the second in as many weeks between the Phillies and Cubs, whose respective streaks began when Chicago rolled to a 10-4 win last Tuesday.
That victory continued an offensive awakening for the Cubs, who scored 59 runs in their first 14 games before scoring seven runs apiece while splitting a pair of games with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Phillies on April 12-13.
The Cubs scored a combined 23 runs in wins over the Phillies and Mets last Wednesday and Friday before relying on strong pitching and timely hitting Saturday and Sunday. Carson Kelly hit a tiebreaking, pinch-hit three-run homer in Saturday’s 4-1 win before pinch hitter Michael Conforto forced extra innings Sunday with an RBI double in the ninth.
Pete Crow-Armstrong scored the winning run in the 10th, when he took third on a wild pitch before racing home on Nico Hoerner’s sacrifice fly to hand the skidding Mets their 11th straight loss.
Chicago is tied for fourth place in the NL Central with the Milwaukee Brewers.
“It’s a big swing for us,” Conforto said. “The offense being held to no runs up to that point and our pitchers putting on a performance against a team that’s fighting for their lives. It’s just a big moment.”
Big moments have been few and far between for the Phillies, who went 2-7 on a nine-game homestand. Only the Mets have a worse record in the NL, but Philadelphia has the worst run differential (minus-38) in the majors.
The homestand was the worst homestand of nine games or longer for Philadelphia since a 1-8 mark June 12-21, 2009. The 21-game start to the season is the worst for the Phillies since the 2015 team also opened 8-13.
The Phillies have been outscored 37-9 during their skid. Kyle Schwarber staked Philadelphia to a 2-0 lead with a first-inning homer Sunday, but the hosts put just four runners into scoring position the rest of the way.
Schwarber was robbed of a potential game-tying hit to end the game when his liner to right with two on was snared on the run by Ronald Acuna Jr.
“Sure, there’s frustration,” Schwarber said. “I see the guys in here and the way that they’re working. It’s inevitable. At some point, it’s going to change.”
Rea and Nola opposed each other last Tuesday. Rea earned the win by allowing three runs over six innings of bulk relief as the Cubs began their winning streak. Nola didn’t factor into the decision after giving up three runs over five innings.
Rea is 2-2 with a 3.32 ERA in nine career games (six starts) against the Phillies, while Nola is 7-2 with a 4.28 ERA in 12 starts against the Cubs.
–Field Level Media
