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Polanco's grand slam helps Phillies beat Cubs

Jun 11, 2011 - 5:44 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Placido Polanco hit a grand slam and Roy Halladay pitched seven scoreless innings as the Philadelphia Phillies held on for a 7-5 win over the Chicago Cubs in the second of a four games from Citizens Bank Park.

Halladay (9-3) recorded the 100th home win of his career as he scattered six hits with nine strikeouts while Domonic Brown added a two-run home run for the Phillies, who bounced back from Thursday's 3-2 loss in extra innings.

"I felt good and felt like I was making my pitches the whole time I was out there," said Halladay. "I was able to avoid trouble for the most part and the guys took care of the rest."

Aramis Ramirez and Lou Montanez each hit a two-run single for the Cubs, who came into the game having won two straight after dropping their previous eight. Carlos Zambrano (5-3) was tagged for seven runs on seven hits with seven walks and five strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings to take the loss.

"Obviously it was a big start and he took it as a challenge," said Chicago manager Mike Quade about Zambrano facing Halladay. "He settled down after getting the ball up early. Once he got back into his game and kept the ball down he was much better."

The Phillies pushed a run across in the first inning. Jimmy Rollins worked a leadoff walk and Shane Victorino followed with a single. Chase Utley then hit a grounder off of Zambrano that saw Rollins caught in a rundown. However, Victorino was able to move to third and scored when Ryan Howard followed with a groundout.

The second inning saw Philly make it a 3-0 game when Raul Ibanez led off with a walk and Brown followed by clubbing a 1-1 pitch just over the wall in right for a 3-0 lead.

The Cubs threatened in the third when they put men on first and third with one out, but Halladay got Darwin Barney to strike out and Starlin Castro to fly out to end the inning.

Chicago put a man on base in each of the next three innings, but were unable to get any home and Halladay set the team down in order in the seventh.

The bottom of the inning saw the Phils add to their lead. Rollins led off with a walk and walks later in the frame to Utley and Howard loaded the bases. Polanco then made his 100th career home run a memorable one as he drilled a pitch into the left field seats for a 7-0 lead.

With the bullpen working the eighth inning for the Phillies, the Cubs made it a game.

Jose Contreras started on the mound and promptly loaded the bases while recording just one out. Ramirez then singled to bring home two runs. J.C. Romero then took the mound and walked Blake DeWitt to again load the bases and everyone moved up a base on a single from Geovany Soto.

After Montanez singled home two more to make it a 7-5 game, Michael Stutes took the mound and retired the next two batters to preserve the lead.

Stutes stayed on for the ninth and walked Barney to start the frame, but then struck out Castro. On the strikeout, the ball got away from Carlos Ruiz, but he was able to recover quickly and nailed Barney trying to take second.

Antonio Bastardo then came on to record the final out and he did so by striking out Carlos Pena for his second career save.

Game Notes

That was Polanco's third career grand slam...Zambrano struck out Rollins in the fourth for the 1,500th strikeout of his career...Halladay won against the Cubs for the first time in his career. He is now 1-3 in four starts against them. The only teams he has never beaten are the Phillies and Giants...Zambrano fell to 4-4 over 10 games against the Phillies.