PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brandon Marsh singled home the winning run in the 11th inning after the Philadelphia Phillies used two bunt hits to load the bases and beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Monday night.
Ian Happ tied it at 2 for the Cubs on a solo homer off reliever Matt Strahm in the eighth. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit an RBI double in the 11th off Carlos Hernández (1-0) for a 3-2 lead.
J.T. Realmuto made it 3-all when he drove in the automatic runner with a single off Daniel Palencia (0-2). The Phillies then improbably got two straight bunt singles — the first from rookie third baseman and undrafted Division II prospect Otto Kemp, who had the third of his first three big league hits in the game. Bryson Stott — a late-inning replacement after he was benched amid a 2-for-24 slump — also bunted for a hit to set up the clutch swing from Marsh.
The Phillies needed this one after they were swept in three games last weekend at Pittsburgh. Philadelphia was 1-9 over its past 10 games and fell from the top of the NL East standings.
The 25-year-old Kemp bailed out the Phillies twice.
Kemp, who played at Division II Point Loma Nazarene University, singled in the fifth for his first hit since he was promoted to the Phillies on Saturday. Kemp scurried to third on Cubs starter Matthew Boyd’s errant pickoff attempt and scored on Weston Wilson’s RBI single for a 2-1 lead.
Key moment
The Phillies scored only one run in the fourth to tie it at 1 after they had loaded the bases with no outs.
Key stat
Cubs manager Craig Counsell was ejected for the second straight game. After getting tossed Sunday at Detroit, Counsell was thrown out in the ninth inning for arguing that Kemp ran out of the baseline on an infield single.
Up next
The Cubs send RHP Colin Rea (4-2, 3.59 ERA) to the mound against Phillies RHP Mick Abel (1-0, 0.79) on Tuesday.