CHICAGO -- Jean Segura and the Philadelphia Phillies think they learned a little more about themselves during a wild four days in Chicago.
They liked what they found out, too.
"We got enough talent here to beat [anybody] in the league," Segura said.
Segura and J.T. Realmuto homered off Jon Lester, and the Phillies beat the Cubs 9-7 on Thursday for a split of the four-game series between division leaders.
Andrew McCutchen added two hits and two RBI as Philadelphia won for the fifth time in seven games. Aaron Nola (5-0) pitched 51/3 innings of three-run ball in his second consecutive victory.
The Phillies won 5-4 in 10 innings in the series opener Monday night. They also held the lead each of the previous two days, only to falter down the stretch. But they managed to hold off the Cubs in the finale behind Hector Neris' adventurous four-out save.
"He had the gutsiest performance possible out there," Philadelphia Manager Gabe Kapler said.
After pitcher Tyler Chatwood's pinch-hit double got Chicago within two in the ninth, Neris struck out Addison Russell and retired Victor Caratini on a fly ball to left to close out his eighth save in eight chances. Neris entered with runners on first and second in the eighth and retired Javier Baez on a deep fly ball to left.
"He stayed in there and battled and got the outs that we needed," McCutchen said. "That's all you can ask for from a closer."
Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber homered for Chicago, which had won three of four. Rizzo finished with four hits and three RBI, but the NL Central-leading Cubs were unable to overcome a second consecutive shaky performance by Lester (3-3).
Realmuto gave Philadelphia a 4-0 lead in the third when he belted a solo drive over the bleachers in left for his seventh home run. The Phillies added three more in the fourth, taking advantage of some shoddy fielding by Chicago.
With Sean Rodriguez aboard after a one-out single, Nola successfully bunted a two-strike pitch from Lester and catcher Willson Contreras threw wildly to first for an error. McCutchen then hit a bouncer up the middle that looked like a possible inning-ending double play, but second baseman Daniel Descalso's throw pulled Rizzo off the bag at first.
Rodriguez scampered home to make it 5-0 Philadelphia. Segura followed with a long drive into the bleachers in left-center for his fifth home run for the NL East leaders.
"We had a couple of mistakes early, but the intensity of our guys is outstanding," Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said.
That was the last inning for Lester, who was charged with four earned runs and seven hits in his second consecutive loss. The ace left-hander has allowed 9 earned runs and 17 hits in his last 2 outings after yielding 5 earned runs and 35 hits in his first 7 starts combined.
Lester was 8-0 with a 1.49 ERA in 10 career starts against the Phillies before Thursday.
"Something just doesn't feel right," Lester said. "The last two starts kind of speak for themselves. We've just got to figure it out."
Segura also doubled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. The shortstop is batting .325 in his first season with the Phillies.
Cubs star Kris Bryant was out of the starting lineup for rest. He walked as a pinch hitter in the sixth.
METS 6, NATIONALS 4 Carlos Gomez hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the eighth inning that helped host New York overcome a Washington comeback that started after Nationals Manager Dave Martinez's heated ejection. Gomez's first home run of the season came off Wander Suero (1-4) as the Mets completed a four-game sweep.
PIRATES 14, ROCKIES 6 Josh Bell, Bryan Reynolds and Starling Marte homered in the seventh inning to lead Pittsburgh past visiting Colorado. The Pirates jumped on Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela (3-4) for 8 runs over 31/3 innings, but Colorado stormed back in the sixth, plating 6 runs that were charged to Pittsburgh starter Jordan Lyles (5-1).
BRAVES 5, GIANTS 4 (13) Austin Riley hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and then drove in the go-ahead run in the 13th with a two-out single off Reyes Moronta, lifting Atlanta past host San Francisco. Riley and Ozzie Albies each had three hits for Atlanta and Tyler Flowers homered. The Braves have won 10 of 13.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
YANKEES 6, ORIOLES 5 Mychal Givens walked Aaron Hicks with the bases loaded to force in the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning, and New York completed a four-game sweep of host Baltimore. Clint Frazier and Luke Voit homered for the Yankees, who went deep 13 times in the series.
RED SOX 8, BLUE JAYS 2 Ryan Weber pitched six innings to earn his first career win as a starter, Steve Pearce homered and had three RBI and visiting Boston beat Toronto. Pearce went 3 for 5. He singled in the fourth and sixth innings and hit a two-run shot off Ryan Feierabend in the ninth, his first of the season.
RAYS 7, INDIANS 2 Ryan Yarbrough handled host Cleveland's lineup into eighth inning in his first start this season and Kevin Kiermaier legged out a three-run, inside-the-park home run when two outfielders collided in the win for Tampa Bay.
INTERLEAGUE
MARLINS 5, TIGERS 2 Garrett Cooper hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning and visiting Miami extended its winning streak to six games with a victory over Detroit. The Marlins, who had the worst record in the majors last week, extended the longest active winning streak in the big leagues.
Sports on 05/24/2019