Chi. Cubs 3, Cincinnati 0
When: 7:10 PM ET, Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
Temperature:
86°
Umpires:
Home -
Bill Miller, 1B -
Chad Fairchild, 2B -
Ben May, 3B -
Mike Everitt
Attendance:
19481
By SportsDirect Inc.
Cubs 3, Reds 0: Anthony Rizzo and Arismendy Alcantara homered while Travis Wood pitched six stellar innings as visiting Chicago won the opener of the three-game series.
Wood (8-11) snapped a 12-start winless streak, striking out five while allowing just a pair of singles, and Hector Rondon pitched a perfect ninth for his 22nd save. Starlin Castro went 2-for-4 in his return from the bereavement list for the Cubs, who have won four straight.
Johnny Cueto (15-8) allowed three runs and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, losing to the Cubs for the first time since 2011 and snapping a streak of five straight victories against them. Todd Frazier, Zack Cozart and pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker each recorded a single for the Reds, who fell 6 1/2 games behind San Francisco for the second National League wild-card spot.
Rizzo blasted his 30th home run to center field in the first inning just before heavy rain settled in and forced a delay. Matt Szczur singled to lead off the seventh and Alcantara followed with a two-run shot to right.
Cincinnati got the tying run to the plate in the eighth, as Schumaker beat out a bunt with two outs and Pedro Strop walked Billy Hamilton before inducing Frazier to hit an inning-ending grounder. Wood gave up a one-out single to Frazier in the first before retiring 10 straight and 17 of 19.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The game was delayed 50 minutes by rain in the opening frame. … Rizzo exited in the eighth inning with lower back tightness. … Cubs pitchers have allowed four runs during their four-game winning streak and surrendered only four hits in the past two contests.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Chi. Cubs
|
8 |
2 |
14 |
.229 |
14 |
13 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
Cincinnati
|
3 |
0 |
3 |
.100 |
6 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |