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CHICAGO - Shane Victorino took about three short steps toward the ivy wall in left-center field before he stopped, turned around, and folded his arms in front of him as the ball sailed over his head and into the bleachers.
He knew he had no shot, and he couldn't stand to watch.
Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez crushed a 1-0 sinker from Chad Durbin for a grand slam with no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday night at Wrigley Field to beat the Phillies, 6-4.
Durbin called it the toughest loss of the year, and who could argue? The Phillies seemed poised for an impressive win over a team that is difficult to beat at home. A victory would have moved the Phils into a first-place tie with the New York Mets in the National League East.
Instead, they sit a game back.
The Phillies had a 4-1 lead when Cole Hamels left after the seventh inning. He pitched brilliantly again. He allowed just five hits and a run and struck out six. He threw 108 pitches.
Could Hamels have pitched the eighth? Maybe, but manager Charlie Manuel said Hamels was "absolutely spent. Was I thinking about leaving him in? I definitely had a thought about it . . . but I knew there definitely was no sense in sending him back out."
Hamels was in no mood to talk about that. He left the clubhouse without comment.
The normally reliable bullpen, which ranked first in the league in wins and ERA entering the night, blew a late lead for the second consecutive night.
"We shouldn't be going through this," Ryan Madson said. "This is our time to hold these leads. This is our job. We're not getting it done right now."
Madson started the eighth and promptly served up a home run to pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot that made it 4-2. Madson then allowed a double to Alfonso Soriano and a single to Ryan Theriot.
Durbin entered. He walked Derrek Lee to load the bases.
Ramirez stepped up.
Boom.
Gone.
"Just a bad pitch over the plate," Durbin said.
Before the game, Scott Eyre talked in the visitors' dugout about October possibilities for these teams. He opened the season with the Cubs, but joined the Phillies in an Aug. 7 trade.
He knows how talented the Cubs are. They entered this four-game series with the best record in baseball. But Eyre also had seen the Phillies win eight of their previous 10 games.
"It would be kind of interesting wouldn't it? To play for the NLCS title right here?" he said.
The Cubs would need an epic collapse – think Mets '07 or Phillies '64 – not to make the postseason.
The Phillies aren't on such solid footing.
They showed that Thursday night.
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