Cubs win 4th straight, stymie Phillies

[May 20, 2010]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Tom Gorzelanny threw 6 2-3 shutout innings and Starlin Castro and Jeff Baker had RBI singles to lead the Chicago Cubs to their fourth straight win with a 4-1 victory over the Phillies.

A night after the Phillies struggled against Pittsburgh's Zach Duke, Gorzelanny kept them off-balance until he was struck by Carlos Ruiz's line drive in the seventh inning.

Ruiz's one-out shot struck Gorzelanny's left ring finger, then rolled toward first. He retrieved the ball and flipped to Derrek Lee, who scooped it for the out. After a mound conference Gorzelanny left. He had X-rays taken, which came back negative.

John Grabow finished the seventh inning, but ran into trouble in the eighth, when the Phillies threatened with Ryan Howard up with one out and runners on first and third.

Grabow made a nice play on a slow roller for the second out, while a run scored. Carlos Zambrano got the final out of the inning with an assist from Castro, who fielded the ball at deep short and made a strong throw to nip Jayson Werth, with the tying run on second.

Carlos Marmol earned his seventh save in nine chances by getting the final three outs.

Castro, the youngest player in the major leagues, singled in Chicago's first run off the game's oldest player, Jamie Moyer (5-3), in the third inning. Jeff Baker stretched the lead to 2-0 with a seventh-inning single. Both run-scoring innings began with two outs and nobody on, and featured shots off the glove of a diving Placido Polanco.

Moyer worked seven inning for Philadelphia, allowing two runs on four hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Chase Utley returned to the lineup after missing two games with flu-like symptoms. He went 1-for-3 with a single.

Chicago added two insurance runs in the ninth inning on Xavier Nady's bases-loaded single up the middle with two outs.

NOTES: Philadelphia catcher Brian Schneider (strained left Achillies strain) is scheduled to head to Triple-A Lehigh Valley for a rehab assignment. ... The Cubs placed reliever Esmailin Caridad on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain, and recalled Jeff Stevens from Triple-A Iowa. Caridad felt soreness after facing one batter Tuesday against Colorado. ... Zambrano is scheduled to throw a simulated game Monday, as he works toward increasing his workload for a return to the rotation. The Phillies had 45,140 fans, the 61st straight sellout at Citizens Bank Park.

[Associated Press]

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