Worth noting

By Manny Randhawa

August 30, 2013

• Rookie third baseman Cody Asche was not in the starting lineup for Friday's series opener against the Cubs. He is still day to day after a mild right hamstring strain that has sidelined him since Wednesday, but he hopes to be back in the lineup on Saturday.

• Rookie Darin Ruf has hit nine home runs in 103 at-bats this month. He is the first Phillies rookie to hit nine or more homers in a calendar month since Ryan Howard hit 10 in September 2005. Eleven of Ruf's 24 hits in August have been extra-base hits.

Ruf went 1-for-4 on Friday, but the hit was a single.

• Going into Friday's series opener with the Cubs, the Phillies were 11-19 (.367) in 30 games against NL Central opponents, the team's lowest winning percentage against any NL division this season. But since 2005, the Phillies have the best winning percentage of any NL team against the NL Central (.561, 199-155).

Manny Randhawa is an associate reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MannyBal9.