Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (Simulated Game 70): Cubs 4, Phillies 7 – Cubs Drop Series, Prep for Cardinals in London

The Chicago Cubs (45-25) dropped the final game of their three-game road series against the Philadelphia Phillies (37-30), blowing an early 3-0 lead en route to a 7-4 loss. Kyle Hendricks was done in by a pair of errors in the outfield and the team finished the conventional portion of their road trip with a 3-4 record, via MLB The Show 20.

Hendricks pitched well early on, rolling through the first three innings without issue. The Cubs struck first in the top of the 4th, cobbling together two walks, two singles, and sacrifice flies from Albert Almora Jr. and Josh Phegley to put them ahead 3-0. But the Phillies responded immediately with a solo-home run from Bryce Harper, two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and an RBI single by Josh Harrison that tied the game.

J.T. Realmuto doubled to start the 6th against Hendricks, and Scott Kingery reached with one out when Kyle Schwarber dropped a catchable ball in left field for an error that allowed Realmuto to score and break the tie. With two outs and Kingery on second, Wheeler popped one up to right field that Steven Souza Jr. should have caught.

But like Schwarber, Souza struggled with the sun and ended up watching as the ball banged off his glove. He was also charged with an error and Kingery moved to third. Bryson Stott drove a ball into left-center field that scored Kingery, putting Philadelphia ahead 5-3, but Wheeler was thrown out at the plate by Schwarber trying to score from first.

David Ross went to left-hander Danny Hultzen in the 7th and the results much better for the Cubs. Andrew McCutchen hit a single and Harper followed with his second homer of the day to put the Phillies ahead 7-3.

Zack Wheeler pitched well for Philadelphia outside of one rough frame. He went 7 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits, three walks, and four earned runs with six strikeouts. The Cubs got their fourth run off Wheeler with one out in the 8th, thanks to a home run to left field by David Bote.

Bote’s home run brought the Cubs to within 7-4, but that’s as close as they would get. Right-hander Victor Arano came in to work a quiet 9th inning to finish off the win for the Phillies.

Notes: The Cubs now have two days off to fly to London, where they’ll face the St. Louis Cardinals for two games. Ross said after the game that he may use the two off days to reshuffle the rotation a bit … Bote now has nine home runs in just 182 at-bats. Last season, he hit 11 homers in 303 at-bats.

Key Players:

Bote – 2-for-3, BB, HR, RBI
Happ – 3-for-4, BB
Caratini – 1-for-4, RBI
Harper – 2-for-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Harrison – 2-for-4, 2B, RBI
McCutchen – 2-for-5, R

Winning Pitcher – Wheeler (7-3)
Losing Pitcher – Hendricks (6-4)
Save – Arano (14)
Home Runs – Bote (9), Harper 2 (13)

70-game stats:

Contreras – 200 AB, .295/.357/.565, 13 HR, 42 RBI
Caratini – 109 AB, .248/.308/.440, 6 HR, 20 RBI
Phegley – 62 AB, .242/.279/.355, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Rizzo – 248 AB, .278/.364/.532, 17 HR, 36 RBI
Kipnis (IL) – 62 AB, .113/.225/.210, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Garcia (AAA) – 18 AB, .278/.350/.333, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Bote – 182 AB, .264/.358/.473, 9 HR, 36 RBI
Hoerner – 123 AB, .228/.275/.366, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 14-16 SB
Bryant – 258 AB, .372/.453/.725, 23 HR, 53 RBI
Báez – 218 AB, .298/.365/.615, 17 HR, 37 RBI
Schwarber – 222 AB, .315/.393/.468, 9 HR, 31 RBI
Happ – 210 AB, .305/.387/.610, 16 HR, 46 RBI
Almora – 115 AB, .209/.276/.357, 3 HR, 12 RBI
Miller (AAA) – 17 AB, .118/.211/.176, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Heyward – 178 AB, .287/.382/.511, 12 HR, 33 RBI
Souza – 112 AB, .259/.317/.339, 2 HR, 11 RBI

Hendricks – 15 GS, 6-4, 88.2 IP, 68 K, 18 BB, 4.67 ERA
Darvish – 14 GS, 6-4, 82.2 IP, 96 K, 33 BB, 4.25 ERA
Quintana – 14 GS, 5-3, 86.1 IP, 76 K, 33 BB, 3.02 ERA
Lester – 12 GS, 4-5, 63.2 IP, 52 K, 25 BB, 3.39 ERA
Chatwood – 12 GS (14 G), 59.1 IP, 61 K, 36 BB, 3.79 ERA

Mills – 23 G (3 GS), 47.2 IP, 46 K, 19 BB, 4.34 ERA
Cotton – 6 G, 8 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, 1.13 ERA
Alzolay (AAA) – 4 G, 6 IP, 7 K, 7 BB, 9.00 ERA
Jeffress – 31 G, 29 IP, 36 K, 13 BB, 4.34 ERA
Wick (AAA) – 23 G, 20.2 IP, 23 K, 13 BB, 5.66 ERA
Tepera (AAA) – 16 G, 17.2 IP, 13 K, 9 BB, 4.58 ERA
Winkler (AAA) – 11 G, 8 IP, 7 K, 6 BB, 11.25 ERA
Maples (AAA) – 9 G, 10 IP, 10 K, 7 BB, 7.20 ERA
Wieck – 4 G, 4 IP, 4 K, 2 BB, 4.50 ERA
Hultzen – 21 G, 15.2 IP, 18 K, 9 BB, 4.60 ERA
Sadler (AAA) – 13 G, 13 IP, 5 K, 6 BB, 3.46 ERA
Ryan – 31 G, 25.1 IP, 24 K, 12 BB, 2.84 ERA
Morrow – 13 G, 12.1 IP, 16 K, 0 BB, 1.46 ERA
Kimbrel – 34 G, 30.1 IP, 41 K, 12 BB, 1.48 ERA, 25-27 S