The surging Cincinnati Reds overcame two deficits Thursday night to beat the Chicago Cubs 8-4. Two home runs from the Cubs couldn’t keep the Reds down and they rode an Elly De La Cruz home run and four hits with runners in scoring position to come out on top in this series opener.
A matchup of quality right-handed pitchers didn’t live up to the billing between Javier Assad and Hunter Greene, both of whom struggled. It was the Cincinnati bullpen that was able to blank the Cubs in later innings as the Cubs couldn’t hold the Reds offense down, leading to the loss.
Scoring Starts With 3rd Inning HR
The Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs opened up a four-game series Thursday night. The winner of the series very well could determine who holds the second spot in the NL Central standings. The first two frames consisted of both Javier Assad and Hunter Greene evading threats to break up the scoreless 0-0 mark. The third inning saw a pair of home runs from premier bats in each team’s lineup.
In the top of the third, Seiya Suzuki continued his dominance over Hunter Greene with a two-run bomb that got the Cubs out to a 2-0 lead. Suzuki’s second hit of the game and most recent example of punishing Greene came on a cement-mixer slider that stayed over the heart of the plate and ended up in the left field bleachers.
Suzuki was outdone in the bottom of the frame by Elly De La Cruz. After the first two hitters of the inning reached, De La Cruz turned a Javier Assad cutter around and pummeled it into right field for his eleventh homer of the year, putting Cincinnati ahead 3-2.
Baserunners Chase Both Starters
For the next two innings, Assad and Greene put the home runs in the third behind them, scattering baserunners and putting up zeros until the sixth inning.
Cody Bellinger led the Chicago half-off with a double, setting up Christopher Morel with a runner in scoring position. Morel took advantage of the opportunity and launched a 97 MPH fastball into center field, just out of the outstretched grasp of TJ Friedl and over the wall for Chicago’s second two-run home run and second lead of the night.
Greene made it out of the inning without surrendering any further damage and worked into the seventh, recording two outs against the first two hitters he faced before walking Mike Tauchman. Tauchman was the last hitter Greene faced, ending his night after 6 2/3 innings of work, giving up the four runs on five hits and two walks, striking out eight, and matching his season-high pitch count of 111, a mark he reached in his last start, also against the Chicago Cubs.
Javier Assad struggled to open the sixth inning as well, allowing the first two to reach before Jacob Huturbise dropped his second sacrifice bunt of the game. Unlike his bunt in the second inning, the Reds were able to use that to their advantage in the sixth.
Assad fell behind Jonathan India 2-0 and the former Rookie of the Year pounced on the 2-0 cutter over the plate and grounded it into left field through the hole between third and short, allowing Jake Fraley to walk in and tie the game at 4-4. Javier Assad struck out the next hitter but with runners at the corners, Craig Counsell went to the bullpen and Assad’s night was over after 5 2/3 innings.
Battle of the Bullpens Favors Cincinnati Reds
Luke Little took over for the Chicago Cubs in the sixth-inning jam. The first hitter he faced was TJ Friedl who greeted him with a double into the right field corner, rendering the lefty-lefty matchup Counsell set up useless. The Reds took the 5-4 lead and Javier Assad’s line was final. To go along with the 5 2/3 IP, Assad was charged with five ER, seven H, two BB, and seven K in his second loss of the 2024 season.
Fernando Cruz fared better than Little trying to clean up for the starter. Cruz struck out Seiya Suzuki to end the seventh, stranding Mike Tauchman. Cruz handed the baton to Sam Moll and Alexis Diaz, who combined to shut down the Cubs lineup, only letting one hitter reach for the rest of the night.
For the Chicago Cubs, the decision to let Javier Assad stay in the game as long as he did made sense when the bullpen was called into action. The bullpen walked four batters in the seventh inning before Kyle Hendricks was called in to try and put out the fire. Will Benson jumped on Hendricks’ first pitch change-up and drove it onto right field, allowing two runs to score and make it an 8-4 ball game.
The four-run lead meant that Alexis Diaz’s appearance was a non-save outing but he struck out the side in the ninth to close the door on the series opener between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. The second game of this set is tomorrow at 6:10 PM CST. The probable starters for the matchup are Justin Steele and Nick Lodolo.
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