Aug 9, 2013 3 min read

Jeff Samardzija has often been the victim of poor run support throughout the 2013 season. As evidenced, he was one of six pitchers who entered Thursday with an ERA under 4.00 despite a double-digit loss total.

On Thursday, he wasn’t quite the victim.

In his shortest outing of the season, Samardzija allowed nine runs on 11 hits as the Chicago Cubs were clobbered by the Philadelphia Phillies 12-1.

“They came out with a game plan to attack me, and it worked,” Samardzija said. “They put the bat on the ball. … I threw too many ball up in the zone. My slider was good, but it was just one of those days.”

Samardzija (6-11) lasted just 3 1-3 innings and couldn’t escape the fourth inning in which the Phillies scored six runs. His saw his ERA swell from 3.78 to 4.23.

“His fastball was flat and he was getting hit pretty hard,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “His split-finger hasn’t been there for him. Getting ahead in the count is huge so he can use the split. … Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for him.”

The loss was the Cubs’ ninth in 11 games.

“A couple of mistakes could have changed the game too,” Sveum said. Ethan Martin earned his first major league win and Cody Asche hit his first home run for the Phillies.

Asche’s two-run drive capped the six-run burst in the fourth inning that made it 10-1. He had three hits and fellow rookie Darin Ruf also homered.

Martin (1-1) got more than enough support. He pitched five innings and allowed one run and four hits, striking out four and walking three. Nate Schierholtz homered in the fourth.

San Francsico 4, Milwaukee 1: Tim Lincecum pitched another gem, allowing only one hit over eight shutout innings and leading the San Francisco Giants past the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1.

N.Y. Mets 2, Colorado 1: Dillon Gee followed Matt Harvey’s first career shutout with an impressive outing of his own, helping the New York Mets beat Colorado 2-1 and sending the Rockies home after matching the worst road trip in team history.

Detroit 10, Cleveland 3: Max Scherzer became baseball’s first 17-game winner and the Detroit Tigers posted their 12th straight victory, routing the Cleveland Indians 10-3.

Indians designate Reynolds for assignment: The Indians swung and missed with Mark Reynolds.

The team designated the slumping slugger for assignment on Thursday, ending his first season in Cleveland, one which began with power and production but fizzled out quickly.

Lacking a power-hitting right-handed bat for their lineup, the Indians signed Reynolds to a one-year, $6 million contract in December.

Reynolds, who hit 60 homers in the previous two seasons in Baltimore, started well and hit 13 homers in April and May. His teammates even nicknamed him “Mega Mark” for a few of his monstrous, tape-measure shots.