Jonathan India homers twice to power Reds past Cubs, 8-5

It mattered not which way the wind was blowing on Saturday evening in Wrigley Field. Jonathan India was going to sock some homers right through it regardless.

The Cincinnati Reds 2B and tonight’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game first pushed a 2-run homer into the basket on the RF wall, and later crushed a separate 2-run blast deep into the LF seats. He added an RBI-single on the night, too, his 5-ribbies helping dig the Reds all the way out of their initial 4-1 hole to claim an 8-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Brandon Williamson, the Reds rookie and starter on the night, struggled a bit early in yielding 4 runs through the game’s first pair of frames, but he eventually settled down and retired 7 straight Cubs at one point before exiting. His final line - 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K on 81 pitches - felt about right despite him not ever truly allowing much hard contact, and manager David Bell’s decision to go to the bullpen early paid off in spades. It was Buck Farmer (1.1 IP, 0 ER) first, and despite an earnie given up by Ian Gibaut, Alex Young and Alexis Diaz managed to slam the door late and give the Reds a road victory that officially jumped them over the Cubs in the NL Central standings.

It won them the series, too. That’s damn nice.

Tony Graphanino

[Link to interactive WPA chart & box score, via FanGraphs]

Other Notes

• Graham Ashcraft will try, try, try again to re-chart the course of his 2023 season tomorrow, hoping to eschew the unfortunate troubles he has experienced in the month of May. He’ll be opposed by veteran lefty Drew Smyly, who’s having a helluva season so far, all told. First pitch is set for 2:20 PM ET.
• Tunes.