Cubs eager for better start in rematch vs. Phillies

With the recent injuries to the Chicago Cubs' rotation, veteran right-hander Colin Rea has become a lot more valuable.

Rea is expected to follow opener Riley Martin on Tuesday evening when the Cubs visit the Philadelphia Phillies in the second contest of a three-game series.

The Cubs need a good start to the game after they were walloped 13-7 in the series opener on Monday. Chicago starter Javier Assad gave up nine runs and 11 hits before he was removed after 4 1/3 innings, and the Cubs trailed 9-2 after five.

Martin (0-0, 0.00 ERA), a left-hander, has scattered two hits over 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief this season.

Rea (1-0, 3.18) initially wasn't scheduled to make his most recent start against the Tampa Bay Rays last Wednesday, but left-hander Matthew Boyd went on the 15-day injured list last week with a biceps strain. It later was learned that right-hander Cade Horton, an 11-game winner as a rookie last season, would need season-ending elbow surgery.

Rea went out and limited the Rays to one run and two hits over five innings in a 6-2 victory.

"Guys are going to have to step up and fill those roles," Rea said of the injuries to Boyd and Horton.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said it was a typical Rea performance in which he didn't overmatch hitters but stayed in the strike zone and forced the Rays to put the ball in play.

"There's not going to be a situation where he's going to do too much. That's not who he is," Counsell said. "Low heartbeat, however you want to say it, that's one of Colin's real strengths as an athlete and a competitor. He's not going to let the situation change him, and he'd give you this effort if he was pitching a beer-league game on Tuesday night in Iowa."

Rea is 1-2 with a 3.13 ERA and a save in eight career appearances (all starts) against the Phillies.

He threw five shutout innings against the Phillies last April in a 4-0 win in Chicago. He was roughed up in Philadelphia in June, however, when he couldn't hold a 3-2 lead entering the fifth inning and ended up surrendering four runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings before the Cubs came back for an 8-4 victory.

The Phillies plan to start right-hander Aaron Nola in the second game of this series.

Nola didn't receive any run support in his last outing against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, when five pitchers combined to blank the Phillies 5-0.

Nola (1-1, 3.63 ERA) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings, striking out three and walking one. He threw five scoreless innings before Rafael Devers clubbed a three-run homer with two outs in the sixth.

"Yeah, frustrating," Nola said of Devers' homer. "He jumped on not-a-great pitch."

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he was willing to let Nola face Devers because he was 2-for-15 in his career off Nola.

"I thought that was his game right there," Thomson said of Nola. "He just left one over the plate, and he (Devers) took advantage of it."

Nola is 7-2 with a 4.19 ERA in 11 career starts against the Cubs.

--Field Level Media