Jason Heyward's grand slam spoils Dylan Cozens' heroics

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CHICAGO — This one stings.

Dylan Cozens picked a great spot for an at-bat he'll never forget, hitting a two-run, opposite-field homer to put the Phillies up two runs in the ninth inning.

But Seranthony Dominguez and Adam Morgan could not hold off the Cubs in the bottom half, with Morgan allowing a walk-off grand slam to Jason Heyward in a 7-5 loss Wednesday.

The Phils had come back from a 3-0 deficit in this one and nearly picked up a win on a night Aaron Nola was less than his best.

The Phillies are 3-6 on their 10-game road trip, which ends Thursday.

Heyward's home run was only his second in the last two seasons against a lefty.

Seranthony is human
Though he pitched with a five-run lead Tuesday night, the eighth inning Wednesday was the Cubs' real introduction to all-world reliever Seranthony Dominguez.

Dominguez shocked no one with a 1-2-3 eighth inning, retiring Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Willson Contreras on shallow flyouts.

Things turned in the ninth, though. Dominguez had retired 18 consecutive batters before Kyle Schwarber walked to lead off the inning. After Albert Almora singled to put runners on the corners with one out, Gabe Kapler turned to Morgan.

Things did not work out. Morgan was one strike away from ending the game before Heyward's salami (see story).

Two of the runs that scored were charged to Dominguez, whose ERA is no longer 0.00.

Just enough from Nola
Gutsy performance by Nola on a night when he had far from his best stuff.

Nola labored in the second and fourth innings and had a runner in scoring position in two other frames. He matched a career high with four walks (one intentional), and he uncharacteristically struggled against the Cubs' right-handed hitters.

Entering the night, righties had hit .191 against Nola with three walks and 44 strikeouts. Nola had trouble, though, with Bryant and Contreras, who reached base in five of their six plate appearances against him.

Still, it's a telling sign of how good a pitcher is when he can turn a lesser outing into a quality start.

This was only the second time Nola has pitched at Wrigley. The last time was his second big-league start back in July 2015.

Costly over-managing by Maddon
With two outs in the sixth inning and the Cubs up 3-0, manager Joe Maddon chose to remove lefty starter Jose Quintana at 91 pitches to go to right-handed specialist Steve Cishek.

The Phillies were ecstatic to see Quintana exit after he had struck out 10 in 5⅔ innings. On the very first pitch Aaron Altherr saw from Cishek, he blasted a three-run, game-tying homer to center.

Maddon's decision was based on Cishek being better against righties than Quintana and Quintana's struggles the third time through a batting order. Still, the lefty was dealing tonight. Reminiscent of opening day with Kapler and Nola.

Williams injured
Nick Williams, the offensive hero Tuesday night, was pulled after the fourth inning with left wrist soreness. His injury was the reason Cozens was in the game.

We'll have more on Williams tonight.

Who's on third?
The Phillies welcomed back J.P. Crawford, who entered the game in the seventh inning at third base for Maikel Franco. Crawford took some grounders at third base prior to the game. It wasn't the first time he's done it, but it was interesting that he did in his first day back from the DL.

Franco has done a whole lot of nothing the last month. Since May 10, he's 14 for 74 (.189) with two extra-base hits, four RBI and four runs scored.

Up next
The series wraps up Thursday afternoon at 2:20 with Nick Pivetta (4-4, 3.48) matching up against right-hander Tyler Chatwood (3-4, 4.02).

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