Cubs blank Phillies in rain-delayed affair

Colin Rea went five scoreless innings and Pete Crow-Armstrong had an RBI and scored a run as the Chicago Cubs earned a 4-0 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Friday following a two-hour, 20-minute rain delay.

Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki each had two hits as the Cubs improved to 5-1 on an eight-game homestand. Rea (1-0) gave up three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Despite a relatively modest run output in the opener of a three-game series, the Cubs still have an MLB-best 167 runs scored this season. They delivered a combined 18 runs in a two-game sweep of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this week.

J.T. Realmuto had two hits for the Phillies, while right-hander Taijuan Walker (1-2) went just three innings, giving up two runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Philadelphia's losing streak increased to five games.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Crow-Armstrong had a leadoff single, stole second base and scored on a double from Jon Berti. Crow-Armstrong added a second steal later in the game and has 12 for the season.

Chicago made it 2-0 in the third inning when Suzuki hit a leadoff double and scored on a Nico Hoerner single. The lead increased to 3-0 when Berti singled to lead off the fourth and came home when Happ followed with a double.

The Cubs scored their final run in the seventh inning when Dansby Swanson led off with a double, went to third on a groundout and scored on a squeeze bunt from Crow-Armstrong.

Four Cubs relievers followed Rea with four scoreless innings, allowing a combined two hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Drew Pomeranz pitched a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts for Chicago in his first appearance with the Cubs and his first major league outing since 2021. Pomeranz, 36, had forearm surgery in 2021 as a member of the San Diego Padres and pitched in multiple organizations before he was acquired from the Seattle Mariners this week.

--Field Level Media