The Cubs torched Roy Halladay for six runs, before crushing the bullpen for five more in the seventh, as the Phils fall to the Cubs, 11-6.

The Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the second as, with one man on, and with one man out, Geovany Soto hits a two-run home run, his eleventh home run of the year, knocking in Marlon Byrd, who was earlier hit by the pitch. Four batters later, with two men on, and with two men out, the Cubs increased their lead as Starlin Castro hits an RBI single, scoring Tom Gorzelanny, who had earlier singled, and had moved up to second base on Tyler Colvin’s single, giving the Cubs a 3-0 lead, while sending Colvin, who had just singled, on to third base. The Cubs would make it 4-0 as, with Derrek Lee batting, Castro stole second base. Catcher Carlos Ruiz committed a throwing error which would allow Colvin to score from third. The Phils tried to start a come back in the fifth as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Placido Polanco hits an RBI ground out, 6-3, scoring Roy Halladay, who had earlier walked, and then reached third on Shane Victorino’s double, making it a 4-1 Cubs’ lead, while sending Victorino, who had earlier double, to third base. One batter later, the Phils would cut the Cubs’ lead to 4-2 as Victorino would score on a Aramis Ramirez fielding error of a Jimmy Rollins grounder. The Cubs would get the two runs back in the sixth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Alfonso Soriano hits his seventeenth home run of the season, scoring Byrd, who was hit by the pitch for the second time in the game, giving the Cubs a 6-2 lead. The Phils got a run back in the seventh as, with two men on, and with one out, Ryan Howard hits a sacrifice fly, knocking in Polanco, who had earlier walked, and had gone to third on Rollins’ single, making it a 6-3 Cubs’ lead. The Cubs would then break the game wide open in their half of the seventh as, with the bases loaded, via singles to Jeff Baker and Colvin and then a sacrifice bunt by Castro, which would move Baker to third and Colvin to second, while Castro would be safe at first on David Herndon’s fielding error, and with nobody out, Lee hits a bases clearing double, scoring Baker, Colvin and Castro, giving the Cubs a 9-3 lead. Three batters later, with two men on, and with one man out, Soriano hits an RBI single, scoring Lee, giving the Cubs a 10-3 lead, while sending Byrd, who had just walked, on to second base. The Cubs then made it 11-3 as, with two men on, and with still one man out, Soto hits an RBI single, scoring Byrd, while Soriano was thrown out at third by an accurate throw by right fielder Ben Francisco for the inning’s second out. The Phils made it an 11-4 game as, with one out, pinch hitter Greg Dobbs hits a solo home run, his fourth home run of the year. In the ninth, Howard made it an 11-5 game with a lead-off home run, his fourth home run of the series and his twenty-first home run of the season. Two batters later, with one man out, Francisco made it an 11-6 game as he hits a solo home run of his own, his second home run of the season. But, it would be a case of too little, too late for the Phils, as James Russell got out the next two batters, getting Dobbs to strike out swinging to end the game.

Roy Halladay took the lost as he pitches six innings, giving up six runs, five of which were earned, on seven hits and two hit batters, while striking out three. His record is now 10-8 with a 2.40 ERA. J.C. Romero pitches to two batters, giving up two runs on two hits. David Herndon pitches an inning, giving up three runs, two of which were earned, on three hits and a walk, while striking out one. Danys Baez pitches a scoreless inning, giving up two hits, while striking out a batter. Tom Gorzelanny gets the win as he pitches six and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs, two of which were earned, on five hits and five walks, while striking out five. His record is now 5-5 with a 3.12 ERA. Andrew Cashner collects his third hold as he pitches an inning and a third, giving up a run on two hits and two walks, while striking out one. James Russell pitches an inning, giving up two runs on two hits, while striking out two.

The Phils had nine hits in the game, with Placido Polanco and Ben Francisco leading the team with two hits each, with Polanco’s hits being both singles, knocking in a run, while Francisco’s hits were a single and a solo home run. Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz and Greg Dobbs had the other five Phils’ hits, with Victorino’s hit being a double, Rollins and Ruiz’s hits being singles, Howard’s hit being a solo home run as he knocks in two runs, with the other run scoring on a sac fly, and Dobbs’ hit being a pinch hit home run, while the other Phil’s run came in on a throwing error. The offense never got running until it was too late to catch up with the Cubs.

The Phils (48-43, 3rd NL East) with continue their road trip with a four-game series in St. Louis against the Cardinals (51-41, 1st NL Central), starting tonight with a night game. The game will start at 7:05 pm Eastern (6:05 pm Central) and will be played at Busch Stadium. The Phils will send to the mound Kyle Kendrick (5-3, 4.44), who is coming off a relief performance against the Cubs on July 15, as he pitched an inning, giving up just one hit, in the Phils’ 12-6 lost. In his last three starts, his record is 1-1 with a no-decision, as he pitched twenty-two innings, giving up eleven runs, ten of which were earned, on twenty-one hits and two walks, while striking out twelve. He will be trying to start the series for the Phils on a positive note. The Cards will counter with Blake Hawksworth (3-5, 4.73), who is coming off a win against the Astros on July 11, as he went five and one-third inning, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out two, in the Cardinals’ 4-2 win. In his last three starts, he has a 1-1 record with a no-decision, as he pitched sixteen and a third innings, giving up seven runs on twenty-one hits and eight walks, while striking out fourteen. He will be trying to improve his record, while trying to add to the Phils’ present problems. The Phils’ offense will be hoping that the presently hot Ryan Howard will continue to feast on his home team while they are in St. Louis, hoping it’ll help jump start the offense.