Ryan Howard: Howard homers, plates three as Phils win

Bryant hit an RBI double in the fifth inning for his 87th RBI during the the Cubs 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in game one of a doubleheader.

Arrieta (19-6) won his eighth straight start, allowing six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks to become the first Cubs pitcher to win that many in a row since Milt Pappas won 11 consecutive games in 1972.

The Phillies’ recently anemic offense was silent through six innings, mustering only three hits and striking out eight times against the duo of Travis Wood, who logged the first three innings of a de facto bullpen game, and Trevor Cahill.

“Arrieta is a potential Cy Young candidate”, Mackanin said. This was pitching by committee with Justin Grimm charged with five runs before Hector Rondon served up a two run walk off homer in the 9th.

“I told him: ‘You can get your act together against lefties next year in spring training”, interim manager Pete Mackanin said. Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff pitched seven very strong innings, allowing one run on only three hits.

“Nothing fazes me”, he said. Haren has a 3.73 ERA this season and worked seven scoreless innings against the Cardinals in his last outing….

The Cubs tied it at 4 in the seventh when second baseman Cesar Hernandez booted Anthony Rizzo’s bouncer for an error with runners at first and third.

“It was outstanding the way we played them”, he said.

Grimm promptly gave up a first-pitch double to Howard for a 1-1 tie.

Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard finally snapped out of the worst slump of his career. “We got the start we were looking for”. “It felt good off the bat, for sure”.

The only way I see Howard not on the roster to finish 2016 is if he catches fire in the first half of the year, the Phillies eat almost 75 percent of what’s left of his contract come the trade deadline and then move him. I try to avoid overusing them.

Ten of Altherr’s first 17 career hits have gone for extra bases. He had never hit two triples in a game before.

“Well, you guys are all over me”, he joked. All of those runs came with two outs too. They are still in third place in the NL Central, but their 80-58 record is the fourth best mark in all of Major League Baseball, and they now hold a commanding 10-game lead in the loss column on both the Giants and Nationals with roughly 20 games remaining.

Phillies: Mackanin said 3B Maikel Franco (fractured left wrist) will take live batting practice “in a few days”. Whatever team he’s on next September 12, hopefully not the Phillies, will get to find out.

The Cubs have aligned Kyle Hendricks for Game 2 or more and is going to go along with Dan Haren on Saturday whole night, in other words Sunday mid-day climax of this four-game group is indexed as “to be determined” might benefit make yourself a bullpen training.