CHICAGO (AP) — Trea Turner hit two long home runs, and the major league-leading Philadelphia Phillies hung on to beat the struggling Chicago Cubs 6-4 on Tuesday night.
The Phillies were rolling along with a 6-1 lead before the Cubs made things interesting in the ninth. José Ruiz came in and gave up singles to Michael Busch and Cody Bellinger before Seiya Suzuki smacked a three-run homer. Jeff Hoffman then struck out Ian Happ and Christopher Morel before retiring Dansby Swanson on a line drive to right for his seventh save.
Michael Mercado (1-0) pitched two-hit ball over five innings to earn his first career win in his first major league start. And Hoffman closed it out for a Phillies team playing without injured sluggers Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.
The Cubs have dropped seven of nine.
Garrett Stubbs gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead with a two-run double in the second, and Turner took over from there.
He lined the first pitch of the third to about the 10th row of the bleachers in left-center and made it 5-1 with a towering two-run drive in the fifth against Hayden Wesneski, giving him 15 multihomer games. The two-time All-Star added an RBI single in the seventh.
Mercado permitted one run in his second career appearance. The 25-year-old right-hander struck out four and walked two.
Gregory Soto, Orion Kerkering and Yunior Marte each worked a perfect inning before Ruiz ran into trouble.
Wesneski went five innings, allowing five runs and five hits. The right-hander struck out seven and walked three in his fifth start this season and 22nd appearance.
Bellinger hit an RBI double in the third after right fielder Nick Castellanos made a terrific backhanded catch while crashing into the ivy to rob him of an extra-base hit in the first inning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: The Phillies played their fourth straight game without Harper (strained left hamstring) and Schwarber (strained left groin). They were placed on the 10-day injured list after getting hurt in Thursday night’s 7-4 loss to Miami.
Cubs: RHP Julian Merryweather (rib stress fracture) threw 25 pitches in live batting practice at Wrigley Field. He likely will throw another session Saturday before going on a rehab assignment, manager Craig Counsell said. A setup man, Merryweather made four appearances before going on the injured list in early April.
UP NEXT
The Phillies send RHP Zack Wheeler (9-4, 2.73 ERA) to the mound on Wednesday, and the Cubs are going with LHP Shota Imanaga (7-2, 3.07 ERA). Wheeler bounced back with solid starts against Arizona and Miami after getting tagged for a season-high eight runs in a loss to Baltimore. Imanaga shook off his worst start, tossing six solid innings in Chicago’s win at San Francisco on Thursday.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
