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Halladay can't withstand the heat, Cubs at Wrigley Field

Jul 19, 2011 - 4:54 AM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Roy Halladay has been beating up teams lately, but he couldn't beat the heat on Monday night.

With temperatures in the high 80s along with high humidity, the righty struggled to his shortest start in two years and the Chicago Cubs took advantage of that to grab a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a three-game series.

Halladay (11-4) came into the game 6-0 over his previous 10 starts and the Phillies had won all of those starts, but he was touched for three runs on seven hits and left in the fifth inning while facing Aramis Ramirez.

Sweating profusely and having already changed his jersey once, he worked the count to 1-1 before being pulled after a gathering at the mound of players, coaches and the trainer.

"He got real hot and dizzy and we were concerned about dehydration," said Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel about Halladay. "We brought him in here and got their (Cubs) doctor and he looked at him and treated him."

That broke a road streak of 63 games during which Halladay had gone at least six innings and it was his shortest start since June 12, 2009 when he was pitching for Toronto in a game against Florida.

Ramirez hit a solo home run and drove in two while Carlos Pena went 3-for-3 with a solo home run and two RBI for the Cubs, who came into the game having lost four of five. Rodrigo Lopez (2-2) grabbed the win as he gave up just one run and five hits with three strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.

"That's why you show up everyday in spite of the struggles we've had this season," said Chicago manager Mike Quade. "If you look at the guys we have, we can win any night and we showed that here."

Jimmy Rollins' home run accounted for all the offense for the Phillies, who dropped a series opener for the first time since losing to Seattle to begin a three-game set on June 17.

The Cubs controlled this game from start to finish as they grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on a two-out blast to left-center by Ramirez, his 17th home run of the year.

After getting retired in order in the second, Chicago loaded the bases with no outs in the third and Ramirez got one home on a sacrifice fly to right. Pena followed with a single to right to make it a 3-0 game.

The Phils got one back quickly in the fourth as Rollins led off the inning with his ninth home run of the season.

However, Chicago got two more across in the sixth for a 5-1 lead. Koyie Hill led off with a walk and promptly stole second. Darwin Barney followed with a double to score Hill and later scored on a Kosuke Fukudome double.

Pena led off the seventh with the 250th home run of his career to make it a 6-1 contest.

Carlos Marmol walked two batters with two outs in the ninth, but he struck out John Mayberry to end the game.

Game Notes

Halladay is 0-3 in three career starts at Wrigley Field with a 5.29 earned run average...Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard went 0-for-4 to snap an 18- game hitting streak at Wrigley Field...The Phillies took three of four from the Cubs in Philadelphia from June 9-12...Lopez improved to 2-1 in seven games against the Phillies.