Ranger Suarez, Phillies shut down Cubs

Brandon Marsh homered twice as Philadelphia won for the third time in four games overall

Illinois, USA (Reuters) - Ranger Suarez allowed a run over a season-high 7 1/3 innings as the Philadelphia Phillies extended their season-high road winning streak to seven games with a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

Brandon Marsh homered twice as Philadelphia won for the third time in four games overall. One of baseball's most successful pitchers over the last month, Suarez (2-2) recorded his sixth straight quality start. On Tuesday, he yielded four hits (two apiece to Cody Bellinger and Nick Madrigal) while walking one, striking out eight and hitting a batter.

Suarez has allowed six runs over 40 innings (1.35 ERA) over his past six starts. He left the game with a 5-0 lead, Bellinger and Madrigal on base and one out in the eighth. Bellinger scored on Nico Hoerner's single off Gregory Soto, but Soto then struck out Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ to end the inning.

Craig Kimbrel threw a scoreless ninth inning as the Philadelphia won the opener of a three-game series. Marsh hit his first homer since May 28, a solo shot off Chicago starter Jameson Taillon (2-6) in the second. He took Taillon deep again in the fifth, a two-run blast that was his seventh homer of the season.

Taillon completed five innings, but his struggles as a first-year Cub continued while giving up five runs on seven hits. He recorded a season-high eight strikeouts and walked one. Taillon has allowed seven homers in his past four starts for Chicago, which has lost two straight after winning nine of the previous 10.

Two batters into the game, Philadelphia had a 1-0 lead against Taillon. Ex-Cub Kyle Schwarber (two hits) doubled, then scored on Trea Turner's line-drive single to right field. The Phillies made it 2-0 in the second when Marsh sent a Taillon pitch well into the right field bleachers.

Marsh went deep again to essentially the same spot, for his second career multi-homer game during Philadelphia's three-run fifth. The frame was capped by an RBI single from Nick Castellanos.

Kody Clemens also had two hits for Philadelphia.