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Cubs continue road trip in Philadelphia

Jun 9, 2011 - 3:07 PM (Sports Network) - The Chicago Cubs finally picked up a victory on their current road trip Wednesday, but they won't find their tour away from the Windy City any easier tonight when they open a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

After getting swept in St. Louis to begin their swing, the Cubs lost their first two at Cincinnati to run their overall losing streak to eight straight games. However, they found the win column yesterday with a 4-1 victory that was fueled by back-to-back homers from Carlos Pena and Aramis Ramirez in the fourth inning.

Kosuke Fukudome had a pair of doubles and scored the other run on a balk for the Cubs, who won for only the third time in their last 14 games overall and will try to win two straight tonight for the first time since May 18-19.

Ryan Dempster worked six solid innings, allowing one run on three hits, before Carlos Marmol locked down the win with a perfect ninth to register his 11th save of the season.

"It was a good win for us," Dempster told the Cubs' official website. "It hasn't been a lot of fun, everybody knows that. We came in there today and said, 'Have a good time out there and get a W.'"

Hoping to pitch the Cubs to another victory tonight will be Randy Wells, who makes his third start since coming off the disabled list because of a forearm injury.

Making his first start since April 4, Wells yielded five runs over four innings in a loss to the Pirates on May 28, then received a no-decision on Saturday versus the Cardinals. The right-hander allowed four runs on three hits and a walk over 5 2/3 frames of work.

Wells, who is 1-1 with a 5.74 earned run average in three starts this year, has faced the Phillies just once before and got a no-decision against them on July 17 of last year despite seven scoreless innings.

The Phillies will welcome the Cubs to Citizens Bank Park, where they are 21-11 this year and kicked off a season-long 11-game homestand with a series victory over the Dodgers. Philadelphia took last night's rubber match by a 2-0 margin thanks to eight scoreless innings from Cole Hamels.

Hamels allowed six hits and struck out nine in Philadelphia's eighth shutout of the season.

"I felt good. I felt strong. When you're letting the pitches go the right way, it's just a matter of time [before you're] hitting your spots. That's what I felt like from the beginning," Hamels said.

Philadelphia, which had lost five of seven coming in, got a solo homer from Ryan Howard in the sixth inning and an insurance run in the seventh frame when Shane Victorino tripled before scoring on Domonic Brown's subsequent grounder to second.

The Phillies, who lead the National League East by three games over the Braves, were without shortstop Jimmy Rollins in the starting the lineup for a fourth straight game due to a bruised right knee, but he could return to action tonight.

"Hopefully, he'll be in the game [Thursday]. He's doing good," Phils manager Charlie Manuel told his team's website.

Kyle Kendrick draws the start for the Phillies tonight, his fourth of the season. He made a spot start on Saturday versus the Pirates and took the loss, yielding four runs on eight hits over five innings.

The 26-year-old righty is 3-4 with a 3.78 ERA in 16 total appearances this season and will make his first-ever start versus the Cubs. He has thrown one scoreless inning of relief against them.

Chicago won four of six versus Philadelphia last season, splitting a two-game series at Citizens Bank Park.