Well okay then: Cubs 4, Phillies 1

This was not a good game for the the Phillies, but it wasn't surprise. They lost 4-1 to the Cubs on the strength of Kyle Hendricks' near-shutout. They just couldn't figure him out, at least until the end of the game, and that's what did him in.

Jerad Eickhoff had a rough start, but he did last six innings. The Phillies weren't able to overcome his early struggles, though. And they were early. Dexter Fowler was the first batter of the game, and he homered. Jason Heyward followed that up with a double, and he scored when Ben Zobrist, human hitting machine, doubled with two outs. They scored again in the second inning, but Eickhoff was able to keep the Cubs quiet until the sixth when they scored their fourth and final run. On the plus side, Eickhoff did get seven strikeouts. On the minus side, his ERA is now over 4.

A few hitters had good luck against Hendricks. Odubel Herrera, of course, had a hit. Freddy Galvis had two. Cesar Hernandez and David Lough (yeah, he's still here) had one each. Peter Bourjos couldn't get one, and saw his two-game hitting streak end. (lol) Ryan Howard was also hitless, and saw his batting average drop to .156. Yikes.

But in the end, what really matters is that the Phillies managed to get a run today. Yes, they got it in the ninth inning, right before the game ended, and on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Howard, but a Phillies player crossed the plate and prevented Kyle Hendricks from getting his second career shutout.

The Phillies have one more game against the Cubs tomorrow, and hopefully they can avoid the shutout.

Please?