Walking on Air: Phillies 3, Cubs 1

The Philadelphia Phillies earned their ninth straight road win and first sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley Field since 2015 with a 3-1 win.

That last sweep was punctuated with Cole Hamels’ no hitter. It wasn’t a no-no this time, but Taijuan Walker was brilliant to cap off a strong month of June.

Walker went 6 innings and allowed one run on six hits and a walk with 6 strikeouts. His splitter was very effective and his cutter was working as a great out pitch to help him escape a few jams caused partially by his defense.

The Cubs had runners at the corners with no outs after Kyle Schwarber dropped a fly ball and Nico Hoerner singled to right. Christopher Morel then inexplicably bunted, allowing Walker to get the out at first without a run scoring. He then got Ian Happ to line out to Bryson Stott at second before striking out Dansby Swanson on a beauty of a 3-2 splitter.

Earlier, Schwarber staked Walker to a lead on the first pitch of the game, blasting his 21st home run of the season to right field. It’s Schwarber’s 8th home run in the month of June.

The Phillies would add two more runs in the third from a two out single from Bryce Harper that scored Kody Clemens and Trea Turner after Turner stole second base.

Yunior Marte relieved Walker in the 7th and had another good outing as he worked around a two out single to Morel before striking out Ian Happ. Gregory Soto followed in the eighth and retired the Cubs on just 5 pitches.

Craig Kimbrel entered in the ninth and collected his 12th save of the season, remaining perfect in save situations. He was aided by an unbelievable play from J.T. Realmuto in front of the plate.

Next the Phillies will take on the Nationals for three games at Citizens Bank Park this weekend before embarking on their final road trip before the All-Star break.