It was a disappointing start to the second half of the season for the Phillies. They got beat 12-6 by the Cubs and Jamie Moyer, who started his career with the Cubs in 1986, couldn't hold an early 2-0 lead.
The Cubs tagged Phillies starter Jamie Moyer (9-9) for six runs on five hits in three innings. He allowed two home runs and hit two
batters. In his last two starts, he has allowed 13 runs in 8 1-3 innings.
"Tonight, I struggled to put a finger on it on the field,''Moyer said. "I just felt that if I made good pitches down I'd be fine, but I made bad pitches down, I made bad pitches up and paid for it. I didn't execute.''
Phillies manger Charlie Manuel is concerned with his pitching staff.
"We know what we got, how our guys pitch. We need consistent pitching. We've got holes,'' he said.
After a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds before the All-Star break, the Phillies failed to match a season-high five-game winning streak and fell 5 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.
The Phillies' bats didn't come awake again until the ninth inning. Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez had a pair of two-out RBI singles in the ninth off Cubs reliever Bob Howry. Howard then chased Howry with another long two-run homer to right field.
