8/30/08 vs. Phillies; L 2-5; (85-51)

The day after Mark DeRosa's hitting streak ended, the Cubs winning streak ended. Jason Werth did most of the damage driving in four runs and hitting two home runs. Chicago managed their own fair share of hits, but most of them were singles. They didn't capitalize and get the clutch hits when they needed.

Ted Lilly started rough, allowing a lead off single and following that up with a hit batter. Then he settled in and retired twelve in a row. He entered the fifth inning with a one run lead, courtesy of Mark DeRosa and Geovony Soto. DeRosa singled in his first at bat of the day and advanced on Kosuke Fukudome's bunt single. The third base hit in a row, by Soto, scored DeRosa.

Lilly's streak of twelve in a row ended when Jason Werth led off the fifth with a home run to tie the game. He then retired the next three batters. The sixth was the real problem. Singles by Utley and Howard, followed by another hit batter, loaded the bases for...Jason Werth. His single to right field scored two to give the Phillies the lead.

In the eighth inning, Howard hit a solo shot to center and Werth hit his second of the game to extend the lead to 5-1. The Cubs had hope though when Theriot and Lee started the inning with consecutive singles. That brought up Mr. Clutch, Aramis Ramirez, who singled home a run. It sure seemed the Cubs were prepping for another come back win. But JC Romero relieved Myers and struck out three to end the threat.

The Cubs did manage eleven hits, but not a single one of them an extra base hit. Derek Lee led the way for Chicago with three hits. Theriot, Soto, and DeRosa each had a pair of hits. Now the Cubs will need to win Sunday to keep the series win streak alive. At worst they will split, meaning they haven't lost a series since they played Arizona on July 23rd.

Maybe more important will be a good outing by Zambrano, who has only one win in August and didn't make it to the fifth inning in his last start.