By Barbara Harrison
The Phillies got what they needed most last night in Chicago:
A quality start!
Jerad Eickhoff threw just 71 pitches over six innings on during the Phillies’ 5-2 victory over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The White Sox three-game winning streak came to an end, as Eickhoff allowed two runs on four hits while striking out two and not issuing a walk.
Eickhoff faced the minimum through five innings, having given up a leadoff single to Adam Eaton in the fourth, which was erased on a Tim Anderson double-play grounder. But after giving up two runs on three hits in the sixth, the Phillies went to their bullpen.
“I wanted him out on a positive note,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said of Eickhoff. “He’s been struggling in the sixth inning and after that, so I didn’t want him going back out there. We have three guys I have confidence in [Edubray] Ramos, [Hector] Neris and [Jeanmar] Gomez. So it worked out for us.”
“Adam was the one that breaks it up and gets it going, but [Eickhoff] was tough on us,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “A great curveball. That’s the biggest thing that sticks out. When he got in trouble, that curveball was the pitch for us. After that, it just wasn’t a good night offensively. I don’t think we swung it that well.”
James Shields suffered the loss, although he made his first average start of the month. The White Sox right-hander gave up four runs on seven hits over six innings, striking out six without a walk. Shields retired the first five Phillies he faced before consecutive hits from Tommy Joseph, Aaron Altherr and Freddy Galvis brought home two runs. Cesar Hernandez and Joseph also went deep for the Phillies.
The White Sox scored one in the ninth off of Gomez but stranded two runners when Dioner Navarro grounded out to second to end the contest.
