Game Recap: Cardiac Cubs do it again to defeat Reds

Katie Stratman - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 4 hours ago

CINCINNATI - When you look at the Cincinnati Reds (26-28) staff, especially their top three guys, it's hard to believe they are two games under .500. The top of their rotation alone is a big reason why the Chicago Cubs (32-21) haven't won a series against them since 2022 which was a concern going into this season.

That changed Sunday Afternoon at the Great American Ballpark as the Cardiac Cubs were at it again and completed their largest come-from-behind victory of the season in an 11-8 victory over the Reds. It took another rough outing from the Reds pen to waste a very good Nick Lodolo start, as the Cubs scored seven times in the seventh and eighth innings to grab the win. With that, they have outscored their opponents 53-3 over their last nine games from the sixth inning on as this offense is relentless.

Like Andrew Abbott, who the Cubs faced on Saturday, Lodolo is a tough customer, and it was more of the same for him on Sunday. After giving the Reds five innings of three-run, six-strikeout baseball, he has now gone nine consecutive starts of at least five innings, allowing three or less runs. Talk about a model of consistency as the Reds rotation has been one of their bright spots this season.

As good as he was most of the game, things didn't start well for him, as the Cubs had him on the ropes in the first inning. Kyle Tucker started things with a one-out walk before the Seiya Suzuki single put a pair of runners on. Both runners managed to reach scoring position on a wild pitch, which proved costly, with Pete Crow-Armstrong delivering a two-run single that gave the Cubs an early 2-0 lead.

While Lodolo has been a model of consistency for the Reds, the Cubs would love for Ben Brown to start being more consistent, as his days in the rotation could be numbered. You have heard the frustration from Craig Counsell in recent starts, and you have to wonder if this will be close to the final straw as Brown was roughed up for a season-high eight earned runs in 4 1/3 as his ERA has now surpassed 6.3.

Four runs came in the first as Brown instantly gave up the 2-0 lead the Cubs gave him. Anytime you walk the first two hitters of the game you are asking for trouble, but after allowing an RBI single to Austin Hays, Brown was one out away from limiting the damage as the Cubs were in front 2-1. Then came the back-to-back singles from Jose Trevino and Will Benson that put the Reds in front 3-2, while a wild pitch capped off a four-run inning with the Cubs down 4-2 after one.

Given the first-inning struggles for Brown yet again, the Cubs knew it was going to fall on their offense to get the job done, and with Reese McGuire homering in his first at-bat of the season, it was the Cubs trailing 4-3 in the second. McGuire had a historic day as he began just the third Cub in team history and the first since 1951 to have two homers in his first Cubs game.

That homer was the last of the runs until the fifth, as both pitchers started to settle in on the mound. Looking back at his previous start in Miami, Brown allowed a pair of homers to begin the game before retiring 12 straight hitters and then losing it in the fifth. This had a similar vibe as Brown retired 10 straight hitters after the first to keep things close.

Once again, it was the fifth inning where he came undone, as the third time through the order is where things are going south for him. Matt McClain and TJ Friedl started things off with a pair of singles, while another one-out single from Elly De La Cruz made this a 5-3 game. Looking to limit the damage, Brown allowed a two-run triple to Hays that pushed the Reds' lead to 7-3 and saw Brown's day come to an end as Caleb Thielbar took over.

Cincinnati would tack on one more run on a Trevino double that was charged to Brown as the Reds now led 8-3 after five. It was at this moment when the game changed as the Cubs bullpen deserves a ton of credit for this win. Not only did they hold the Reds offense in check on Friday, leading the way for the comeback, but they did it again on Sunday as the combination of Thielbar, Ryan Brasier, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Keller, and Daniel Palencia held the Reds scoreless through 4 2/3 innings which gave the Cubs a chance to battle back.

That they did as Nico Hoerner led off the sixth with a walk before coming home on a wild pitch later in the inning to make this an 8-4 game. In the seventh, things started to get interesting as the Cubs continued flexing their late-game magic against Graham Ashcraft. What started off for what looked to be a 1,2,3 inning was followed by a pair of singles from Dansby Swanson and Crow-Armstrong as the Cubs offense was in business yet again.

That set the tone for one of the best in the business when it comes to hitting with runners on base as Hoerner tacked on a massive RBI double to score a pair and pulled the Cubs within 8-6. The Cubs weren't done as Michael Busch entered the game as a pinch hitter for Justin Turner and promptly delivered an RBI single to make this an 8-7 game.

As if their three-run seventh wasn't good enough, why not make it a four-run eighth as McGuire connected for his second homer of the game off another lefty in Taylor Rodgers, and just like that, this was an 8-8 game. Things only got worse from there for Rodgers as Ian Happ worked a walk ahead of a Tucker single as Terry Francona was forced to go to his pen again.

Luis Mey was forced into a tough spot, and after struggling to locate his pitches, it was Seiya Suzuki who made him pay as he turned on a 3-1 heater and cranked it over the left field wall to put the Cubs back on top for good, 11-8. For Suzuki, that homer ties him for the team lead with Pete Crow-Armstrong while giving him 49 RBIs, one ahead of PCA.

That would be it for either offense in this one as Keller worked around a pair of two-out singles in the eighth before the flame-throwing Palencia secured his second save in the ninth to give the Cubs a winning road trip. With the win, the Cubs maintain their two-game cushion over the Cardinals and are 9-3 to start this 21-game stretch. Chicago will look to keep their winning ways going as they welcome the MLB-worst Colorado Rockies to Wrigley Field for some Memorial Day fun.

Suzuki paced the Cubs offense with three hits and three RBIs, and he is now hitting .273. McGuire and Crow-Armstrong added two hits as the Cubs pounded out 13 hits in the win.