Carson Kelly belted a three-run homer and Nico Hoerner and Alex Bregman also drove in three runs apiece, fueling the visiting Chicago Cubs to a 10-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.
Hoerner recorded an RBI single in the third inning, Bregman had one of his own in the fifth and both added a two-run single in the sixth.
Ian Happ ripped an RBI double and Michael Busch reached base four times (two hits, two walks) for the Cubs, who banged out 15 hits to even their three-game series with the Phillies at one victory apiece. The deciding contest of the set is Wednesday night.
Colin Rea (2-0) relieved opener Riley Martin and allowed three runs on four hits with five strikeouts in six innings. His lone misstep was surrendering a three-run homer to Edmundo Sosa in the second.
Sosa also scored on Trea Turner’s RBI single in the eighth to bring the Phillies within 7-4, however Kelly provided insurance in the ninth with his first homer of the season.
With the game tied at 3-3, Tim Mayza (0-1) relieved starter Aaron Nola (five innings, eight hits, three runs) and ran into trouble in the sixth. A walk, a hit batter and an error quickly loaded the bases before Hoerner and Bregman each slapped a two-run single to right field.
Mayza permitted four runs (three earned), two walks and one hit in one-third of an inning. He entered the game having yet to allow an earned run in seven relief appearances.
Brandon Marsh and J.T Realmuto each had a one-out single in the second before Sosa deposited a 2-1 slider from Rea over the wall in center field to open the scoring.
Chicago cut into its deficit in the third, with Hoerner’s single off Nola plating Pete Crow-Armstrong and Happ’s double off the top of the wall in left field scoring Busch.
The Cubs forged a 3-3 tie in the fifth after Dansby Swanson walked to lead off the inning, advanced to second on another walk and scored on Bregman’s single to center field.
