Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs hits a three-run home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Chicago.
14:03 JST, July 3, 2024
CHICAGO (AP) — Trea Turner hit two long home runs and the Major League-leading Philadelphia Phillies held on to beat the struggling Chicago Cubs 6-4 on Tuesday night.
Playing without injured sluggers Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies got the pop they needed from Turner and a big performance from Michael Mercado (1-0) in his first major league start.
But in the ninth inning things got exciting.
José Ruiz came in and gave up singles to Michael Busch and Cody Bellinger before Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run homer. Jeff Hoffman then struck out Ian Happ and Christopher Morel before lined out Dansby Swanson to right for his seventh save.
The Cubs lost for the seventh time in nine games.
Mercado threw two hits over five innings to earn his first career win.
Garrett Stubbs gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead with a two-run double in the second inning, after which Turner took over.
“It’s that fine line of trying to make an impact but not trying to do too much,” he said. “A couple days ago I was trying a little too hard. Now I feel the swing coming. I was getting good pitches to hit and just not missing them.”
Turner lined the first pitch from the third to about the 10th row of the bleachers in left-center. He made it 5-1 with a towering two-run drive in the fifth against Hayden Wesneski (2-5), giving him 15 multihomer games. The two-time All-Star added an RBI single in the seventh.
Mercado allowed one run in his second career appearance. The 25-year-old right-handed pitcher struck out four and walked two.
Mercado walked a batter and gave up a single to Suzuki in the first. In between, right fielder Nick Castellanos made a great backhanded catch while crashing into the ivy to rob Bellinger of an extra-base hit.
Mercado pitched out of that predicament. The only other hit he allowed was Bellinger’s RBI double in the third.
“I think after that first inning, I was able to settle in a little bit easier,” Mercado said. “But that’s normal in any start, whether it’s here, Triple-A or any other point in my career.”
Gregory Soto, Orion Kerkering and Yunior Marte all pitched perfect innings before Ruiz ran into trouble.
The Cubs ended up with five hits after allowing just two in a 7-1 loss to NL Central-leading Milwaukee on Sunday.
“Disappointing, that’s for sure,” Bellinger said. “We all had high expectations. I think we still have them overall. Today I thought we made some good shots on the ball. Just some bad breaks, it seemed. We’ve got to keep fighting.”
Wesneski threw five innings, allowing five runs and five hits. The right-handed pitcher struck out seven and walked three in his fifth start of the season and 22nd appearance.
