Cubs have no answer for Phillies’ Lee

PHILADELPHIA — The last thing the struggling Cubs needed was to face Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee on consecutive days.

A day after Halladay pitched 7 shutout innings, Lee went 8 strong to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-1 victory Saturday. Chase Utley did the damage offensively for the Phillies, homering and driving in 4 runs to back Lee.

It was the 10th loss in 12 games for the Cubs, who don’t get a reprieve Sunday when Philadelphia right-hander Roy Oswalt takes the mound in the final game of the four-game series.

“They’re tough,” Cubs manager Mike Quade said of Lee and Halladay. “You’ve got to come with your ‘A’ game when you face them. You’ve got to do everything right.”

Lee (6-5) struck out to seven to pass Halladay for the league lead, upping his season total to 107. He allowed 4 hits and 1 run while walking two.

“They keep swinging and missing,” Lee said. “As long they get out, I don’t care how it is. I’m not trying to strike guys out.”

Cubs right-hander Matt Garza (2-6) was making his second career start at Citizens Bank Park after pitching Game 3 of the 2008 World Series for the Rays against Philadelphia.

The right-hander also was making his second start after returning Monday from a right-elbow contusion that sidelined him May 18. He pitched well Saturday, allowing 2 runs — 1 earned — on 5 hits while striking out four and walking three, one intentional.

“Garza was fantastic,” Quade said. “Only 1 earned run, he did a (heck) of a job.”

Garza wasn’t disappointed with his outing, although he hoped to pitch deeper into the game.

“I threw way too many pitches, and you can’t do that against Cliff Lee,” said Garza, who threw 113. “You’ve got to last longer in the game. It was a step forward though. I had a good curveball today.”

Garza also spoke with optimism for his club.

“They’re a good team,” Garza said of the Phillies. “All we can do is keep battling, and we will. Everybody’s lacing them up and going out there to play hard. Everybody’s pulling for each other. We’ll get it turned around.”

The Cubs never have had an easy time against Lee.

The left-hander improved to 4-0 in 5 career starts against the Cubs. He has worked at least 7 innings in 9 of his 14 starts this season. It was the fourth time he has gone at least 8 innings, including 1 complete game. He has won 4 of his last 5 starts.

“Sometimes you get locked in, and I’m hoping I’m getting into that,” Lee said. “But there’s always something to work on, always something to get better at.”

Lee and the Phillies were at their positions to start to start the game when they had to hustle to the dugout as rains came pouring down just before the scheduled first pitch.

Lee stayed warm in the clubhouse, waiting out the 32-minute delay. It could have been a different story had Lee thrown some pitches.

“We definitely didn’t want to lose Cliff’s start,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “He was a little upset, but it definitely turned out to be a good day for us.”

Utley gave Philadelphia the early lead with a 2-run double in the first and provided some insurance with a 2-run homer in the eighth. Shane Victorino had 3 hits, scored 3 runs and drove in another for Philadelphia, which has won three of four.

Philadelphia got a pair of runs in the seventh to take a 4-1 lead. Howard singled home Victorino, who had doubled, against Sean Marshall to make it 3-1. The run snapped a 14⅓ scoreless streak by Cubs relievers, while Victorino’s leadoff double was just the fourth extra-base hit Marshall had allowed against 108 batters.

“Marshall’s only human,” Quade said. “He’s still going to be a big help for us.”