Ramirez's slam beats Phillies

Result: Cubs 6, Phillies 4. The Cubs lead the NL Central by 6.5 games over Milwaukee and now have the best record in baseball at 84-50. The Brewers were idle on Thursday and play at Pittsburgh this weekend.

What happened: The Cubs were shut down through seven innings by ace lefty Cole Hamels, managing only one run on an RBI triple by Mark DeRosa in the fifth. Philly took a seemingly comfortable lead with three runs in the sixth, but the Cubs got to the Phils' bullpen. Pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot greeted Ryan Madson with his ninth homer of the season, making it 4-2. After back-t0-back singles by Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Theriot, Chad Durbin was brought in and he walked Derrek Lee. Aramis Ramirez then launched a Durbin fastball deep into the centerfield bleachers, sending Wrigley into bedlam. That made a winner out of Bob Howry, who came on to relieve Ryan Dempster, who was not as sharp as usual. Kerry Wood pitched the ninth for his 28th save.

Up next: Phillies-Cubs today at 1:20. Joe Blanton vs. Rich Harden in a matchup former Oakland A's rotation-mates. Thursday's win was a big one for the Cubs. It was a great way to start a long weekend series against a potential playoff opponent and to pick up another half game on the Brewers. Every winning season contains some signature wins, often comebacks, and this will surely go down as one for the '08 Cubs.