Right from the start, a horse trained by one not-so-over-the-hill Hall of Famer and ridden by another took control of the Preakness. The result: a huge upset and the end of any hopes for a Triple Crown attempt at the Belmont Stakes.PHILADELPHIA – Paul Maholm’s craftiness and Tony Campana’s speed outdid Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay and the tepid Phillies offense.
Maholm pitched 6 1/3 solid innings, Starlin Castro had two hits and an RBI, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 Friday night.
Maholm (2-2) allowed a run on five hits with a strikeout and no walks, dropping his ERA from 8.36 to 6.20. And the speedy Campana had two hits on balls that didn’t leave the infield and scored twice for the Cubs.
“He had really good command of his fastball, but the biggest thing was when he needed the curveball he really had it,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said of Maholm. “He did a great job.”
A left-hander who doesn’t overpower hitters, Maholm worked out of a first-and-third, no-out jam in the first inning and cruised from there.
“Obviously, I didn’t want to go out there and let the first two runners get on base,” he said. “But you just have to make your pitches and do what you can and have a chance to get some things going. I think I had one punch-out, so that’s a lot of ground balls and the defense played great.”
Campana pestered Halladay and the Phillies with his quickness.
“(Halladay) throws a lot of strikes, and I was able to poke some balls around today,” Campana said. “I don’t think I hit a ball out of the infield grass and I had two hits. Anyway I can get on base, I’ll take it.”
Ty Wigginton homered for Philadelphia, which has scored two runs or less in 11 of 20 games this season.
ASTROS 6, REDS 4: In Cincinnati, Jose Altuve drove in two runs with a triple and a double for Houston. Jed Lowrie also had two hits for the Astros, who won consecutive games for the first time since a three-game winning streak April 7-9. Winner Wandy Rodriguez (2-2) gave up two runs and six hits in six innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, MARLINS 0: In Miami, Joe Saunders pitched a three-hitter, and Jason Kubel tied a career best with four hits as Arizona sent Miami to its sixth straight loss.
BRAVES 6, PIRATES 1: In Atlanta, Tommy Hanson allowed one run in six innings, and Dan Uggla and Chipper Jones came through in a four-run seventh as Atlanta won for the 13th time in 16 games.
CARDINALS 13, BREWERS 1: In St. Louis, Jake Westbrook gave up one run over seven innings, and St. Louis scored eight runs in the third inning to win for the eighth time in 12 games.
