Phils Fall to 3-1 After Home Opening Loss to Cubs

At 1:05 p.m. Friday, Phillies home opener starter Randy Wolf was warmed-up and ready to go. He went through his entire routine, stretched, psyched himself up and was ready to take the mound and throw darts at the Chicago Cubs. The only trouble was, the weather wasn't cooperating.

After a nearly two-hour rain delay at the outset, Wolf went through the entire warm-up routine all over again -- including another psych-up -- and finally took the mound. But by this point, the Phils starter had, essentially, already thrown an inning.

A few weeks from now, Wolf's warm-up, cool down and warm-up all over again won't be that big a deal. After all, what's an inning when you've already put a few under your belt and you're heading for 200? But after a subpar Spring Training where the young lefthander wasn't able to accumulate the proper amount of work, his arm isn't stretched-out. Ultimately, that's what cost him in the Phils 3-2 loss, Friday afternoon in the Vet.

	Travis Lee scored from first on Mike Lieberthal's double in the fourth inning.

"When you have a layoff like that, it can get frustrating," Wolf said about the delay. "You can't control weather. You just have to deal with it.

"(Manager Larry Bowa) told me it's a long season so there was no reason to burn me out now," Wolf added.

The southpaw lasted just four innings of real-time action, allowing two runs and threw 78 pitches in the Phillies first loss of the season. After winning the first three, the team was hoping to match its best start in 86 years with a win, but the Cubs' bullpen had other ideas.

The Phils had three golden opportunities to put some runs on the board and perhaps break the game open but came up empty. Down 2-0 in the second, the Phils loaded the bases with two outs and failed to capitalize when Cubs starter Julian Tavarez (1-0, 1.69) got Wolf to line out deep to left.

They drew two walks with one out in the sixth before reliever Courtney Duncan got Mike Lieberthal to fly out to left and Marlon Anderson to whiff. An inning later, the Phils loaded them up again with one out, but reliever Todd Van Poppel struck out both Scott Rolen and Pat Burrell to end the rally.

The Phils never threatened again and Jeff Fassero pitched the ninth to earn his second save.

The Cubs made Wolf pay for his mistakes early. Eric Young and Damon Buford led of the first and second innings with walks and came around to score on singles. He ended up walking three in the first two innings before finding a groove in the third and fourth where he retired eight of the last nine he faced.

"The weather really messed Randy up," Bowa said. "He warmed up twice, full bore, and threw a lot pitches counting both warm ups. That's really tough on a pitcher. The bad part is getting keyed up to play and then have to wait two hours.

"We played well, but we just didn't score enough runs," Bowa said. "It's going to happen in baseball. Sometimes you have to give credit to the other team."

Wolf said the early walks were the key to the ballgame.

"I wasn't wild, but I was just missing," Wolf explained. "Some of those calls could have gone either way, but when you give up a lead-off walk, you might as well count it as a run."

While the weather and borderline wildness factored in Wolf's outing, Tavarez seemed to enjoy the respite. The Cubs starter allowed one run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two in his first game of the season.

"We sat through the rain, but I didn't let it get to my head," Tavarez said. "I just wanted to go out, follow what (catcher) Joe Girardi asked me to throw. My two-seam fastball and slider were going good for me."

In addition to Tavarez's outing, Van Poppel ensured the Cubs victory. The reliever entered with one out in the seventh and struck out all five batters he faced. The former No. 1 draft pick's pitching started a string where eight of the last nine Phillies were retired.

"My slider and offspeed pitches were working," Van Poppel said. "If I can throw my offspeed pitch for strikes, I can get guys out."

The Cubs added a third run in the sixth when Julio Zuleta hit a solo shot to left off spot-reliever Amaury Telemaco in the sixth to make it 3-1.

For the Phils, they made it 2-1 in the fourth when Mike Lieberthal belted an RBI double to right to drive in Travis Lee, who had walked. In the seventh, rookie Jimmy Rollins singled in Doug Glanville to make it 3-2. Bobby Abreu walked to put runners on first and second with one out before Van Poppel came in and blew the Rolen and Burrell away.

Meanwhile, a crowd of 36,380 saw the new Veterans Stadium, replete with its new NeXturf. The Phillies replaced the Vet's often-maligned artificial turf with a softer (almost spongy), greener surface.

Notes: Before the game, the Phillies retired the No. 14 jersey worn by Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning, a Republican U.S. senator from Kentucky. ... This is the first time in club history the Cubs have started the season with four straight one-run games. ... Zuleta's homer was the first for Chicago this year. The Cubs hadn't gone more than three games without a homer to open the season since a six-game drought in 1983. ... The Phillies are 13-18 in home openers at The Vet. ... Burrell struck out two more times Friday to give him 10 this season. The major league record is 189, set by Bobby Bonds in 1970. ... The Phils bullpen has a 1.30 ERA this season. In 19 2/3 innings, the 'pen has 22 strikeouts. ... Outfielder Jason Michael arrived during the fifth inning of the game and made his major league debut with a whiff in the eighth inning. The rookie was called up when Brian Hunter was placed on the DL because of a hamstring injury suffered in Florida last Tuesday. ... Doug Glanville has a hit in all four games this season.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com