Cincinnati Reds blow five run lead, lose to Chicago Cubs 8-7

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Eugenio Suarez blasted a big 3-run homer, walked twice, and added a single for good measure, and now has his season OBP up to a hot-dang impressive .403. He’s been the single most ruthless hitter for the Cincinnati Reds all season, and that continued to be on display today in a game that the Reds ultimately farted away in meltdown-fashion.

He’ll be an All Star when the team is announced. Bank on that.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Matt Harvey, who wasn’t at his absolute best but still allowed just 2 ER in 5.2 IP; Joey Votto, who singled, doubled, walked, scored twice, and drove in a run; Billy Hamilton, who singled thrice, stole a trio of bases, and scored; and Scooter Gennett, who singled twice and scored twice.

Key Plays

• The Reds plated a pair of runs in the Top of the 1st thanks in large part to Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood having absolutely zero idea where the hell his pitches were going early - and they did so with 2-outs. Tucker Barnhart poked a single, Scooter later smacked a 2-out single, too, and Suarez then walked to load the bases behind him. Chatwood then proceeded to throw a pair of run-allowing wild pitches, which was hilarious in the most pre-2016 Chicago Cubs way. Reds led, 2-0.
• Suarez struck bigly in the Top of the 3rd, once again netting the Reds some runs with 2-outs. Votto got the rallly going with a 2-out walk, and he eeked into 2B on a slow grounder up the middle by Scooter that was scored as a single after the flip from Javy Baez to Addison Russell at 2B was just a tad late. That brought Suarez up, and he responded with a towering 3-run dinger into the LF seats. Reds led, 5-0.
• Vic Caratini got the Cubs on the board against Harvey in the Bottom of the 4th, doubling to the wall in left-center to plate Kyle Schwarber, who had singled in front of him. Caratini moved to 3B when the throw to the infield kicked off Jose Peraza’s glove for an error, and he later scored on a productive groundout by Addison Russell. Reds led, 5-2.
• The Reds dropped a 6th run on Chatwood in the Top of the 5th, as Votto doubled and later scored when Jesse Winker smacked an RBI-single into LF. Reds led, 6-2.
• Chatwood was still on the mound for Chicago in the Top of the 6th - which was somewhat hilarious in its own right - and the Reds tagged him for another run for good measure. Billy reached on an infield single and later swiped 2B, which put him in prime scoring position on Votto’s RBI-single into RF. Reds led, 7-2.
• Chicago got a run back in the Bottom of the 6th when reliever Randy Rosario smacked a single - his first career big league hit. That came immediately after Russell’s fly ball was lost in the sun by Scott Schebler and fell in for a single, so Russell scored to make it a 7-3 game.
• Javy Baez has made a name for himself by knocking the snot out of balls. He did just that off David Hernandez in the Bottom of the 7th, a solo blast over the wall in left-center. Reds led, 7-4.
• After getting a trio of quick outs in the Bottom of the 7th, Amir Garrett came back out for the Bottom of the 8th and...well, was not good. He walked a pair before David Bote singled to load the bases and chase Garrett in favor of Jared Hughes, who immediately allowed a 2-run double to Ben Zobrist. Hughes fanned Albert Almora on 3 pitches, but then allowed a single on a comebacker right off his own glove that plated the game-tying run. That left runners on the corners, unfortunately, and the go-ahead run then scored on Anthony Rizzo’s RBI groundout to 2B. Reds trailed, 8-7, and got stuck with a really, really deflating loss.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Matt Harvey’s final line: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 3 R (2 ER), BB, 4 K on 94 pitches.
• This game burns.
• Luis Castillo and Jon Lester will face-off in the series finale on Sunday, with first pitch set again for 2:20 PM ET.
• Tunes.