Game Preview

Yesterday, the Phillies lost to the Chicago Cubs 6-4. Aramis Ramirez hit a grand slam in the 8th inning to give the Cubs the lead.

Cole Hamels pitched 7 innings and allowed just 1 earned run on 5 hits. He struck out 6 and walked none. He threw 108 pitches, and instead of leaving Hamels in, Charlie Manuel decided to go to the bullpen, which blew the lead.

The Phillies are now 1 full game back of the National League East.

Joe Blanton will get the call today for the Phillies against Rich Harden.

The Phillies had a tough time managing runs off Harden when he was with Oakland earlier this year. He struck out 11 Phillies.

They key to the game will be Joe Blanton. He needs to limit the Cubs to the least amount of runs as possible. Going deep into the game and giving some of the bullpen rest would be huge.

It is going to tough for the Phillies to score runs against Harden, but hopefully the Phillies can manage offense.

The former Oakland A's teammates face each other at 2:20 PM EST.