Three late home runs rally Cubs past Reds |
CHICAGO -- Addison Russell and Willson Contreras both homered in the seventh inning to lead the Cubs to a 5-2 come from behind victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday evening. The Cubs won their 95th game on the season, marking the 12th time in franchise history they have reached the mark and have now won 53 games at Wrigley Field for just the fifth time.
The Reds scored early and were unanswered until the 7th inning when a solo home run by Russell cut the Reds lead in half at 2-1. Contreras then tied the game with a solo home run of his own putting the score at two apiece. Dexter Fowler plated Chris Coghlan on an RBI single later in the 7th with two outs to give the Cubs the go-ahead run. Jason Heyward then added some insurance runs in the eighth with a two out, two-run homer. Russell's 21st homer made him the first shortstop to reach 93 RBI in his age 22 season or younger since Troy Tulowitzki did so at age 22 in 2007 for the Rockies (99 RBI). Contreras became just the fourth Cubs rookie catcher all-time with 10 homers, joining Geovany Soto (23 in 2008), Randy Hundley (19 in 1966) and Cal Neeman (10 in 1957). In the first meeting between the two clubs in over two months, Jason Hammel (15-9) started the game having the second-best home ERA in baseball, only behind teammate Kyle Hendricks. The Reds took an early lead as Brandon Phillips hit a homer to get his team on the board first with a score of 1-0. The Reds struck again in the 6th as Joey Votto hit an RBI single to make the score 2-0, as the Cubs struggled to get base runners. However, Chicago came alive in the 7th inning. Hammel pitched 7 innings allowing four hits and two runs. He struck out 6 and only walked 1 Reds player. Aroldis Chapman made his first appearance against his former team. It should be noted that Chapman threw a ball hard enough to put a hole in Willson’s glove. Chapman was able to get the last three outs of the ballgame for his 35th save of the season. The Cubs continue play against the Reds Tuesday evening as Jon Lester faces Josh Smith on the pitcher’s mound.
