The lead changed hands four times before Alex Bregman settled it. His two-run homer to left in the seventh inning, with Seiya Suzuki scoring ahead of him, broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Chicago Cubs a 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday at Great American Ball Park.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| CIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 |
Bregman finished 1-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBI. The homer was his eighth of the season for a player carrying a .236 average with 37 RBI. It was the final act in a game that had been knotted three times and featured five home runs across both clubs. Drew Pomeranz earned the win, his second of the season, working 1.0 inning and allowing 1 run. Trent Thornton closed it out for his third save of the year.
Cincinnati struck first. Nathaniel Lowe homered to right in the fourth, and Eugenio Suarez followed with a solo shot to right center, giving the Reds a 2-0 lead. The Cubs answered in the fifth when Amaya scored on a Suzuki single to make it 2-1. In the sixth, Carson Kelly homered to center to tie the game at 2-2, and Ian Happ's double brought home Michael Busch to put Chicago ahead 3-2. Cincinnati responded immediately — JJ Bleday homered to right to knot it at 3-3. Then came the seventh, and Bregman.
Julian Robert Garcia absorbed the loss, his second of the season, allowing 2 runs on 1 hit and 1 walk in 1.0 inning of relief. Starter Nick Lodolo gave Cincinnati 5.0 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks. Javier Assad matched him inning for inning for Chicago, going 5.0 innings and allowing 2 runs on 7 hits with no walks and 4 strikeouts.
Chicago improved to 53-42. Cincinnati fell to 43-51.