Cubs 5 - 1 Phillies
Final
  for this game

Maholm, Cubs top Phillies

Apr 28, 2012 - 5:07 AM

Video

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - A resurgent Paul Maholm outpitched Roy Halladay as the Chicago Cubs posted a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park.

Maholm (2-2) gave up five hits, the last being a one-out home run in the seventh inning to the final batter he faced, Philadelphia first baseman Ty Wigginton.

"He's a great pitcher and we knew we weren't going to get much off of him," said Maholm. "You just have to make sure that you're making your pitches and do your best."

The Chicago left-hander said the keys to the game were "keeping the ball down, mixing speeds, staying away and coming in when I had to."

Maholm has given up just two runs over his last two starts, totaling 12 1/3 innings. He was tagged for 12 runs and 12 hits in his first two outings this season.

Halladay (3-2) lost his second straight start after allowing a season-high three runs on six hits in seven frames.

"I felt like we made good pitches the whole night, they were scrappy," Halladay said. "They obviously have some speed and they were able to capitalize on it."

Starlin Castro had two hits and knocked in a run for Chicago, which has won four of its last six games.

Placido Polanco matched Wigginton with two hits for the Phillies, who returned home after a 5-5 road trip.

The Phillies failed to score with a runner on third in each of the first two innings.

Chicago opened the scoring in the fourth when Tony Campana reached on a bunt single, stole second and came home on Castro's bloop single to right-center.

In the sixth, Alfonso Soriano contributed a run-scoring single and Ian Stewart followed with an RBI double for a 3-0 Chicago lead.

After Wigginton went deep, Cubs reliever James Russell gave up back-to-back two-out singles before retiring Juan Pierre on a fly ball to left to end the seventh.

Reed Johnson hit a two-out, run-scoring triple past a sliding Hunter Pence in right to make it 4-1 in the ninth. David DeJesus then plated Johnson with a single to center.

Game Notes

Halladay, who struck out five and walked two, was pulled after four-plus innings with heat exhaustion in his last start against the Cubs - July 18, 2011 at Chicago. The outing snapped a streak of 63 consecutive starts on the road with six-or-more innings pitched...Wigginton extended his hitting streak to 12 games...Chicago's Rafael Dolis recorded the final six outs to earn his first major league save...The Cubs improved to 2-5 on the road this year...Maholm picked up his first road victory since May 28, 2011. He had gone 0-4 with a 5.63 ERA in his previous seven road games.






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