Reds’ sixth-inning burst overturns Cubs as Chicago strands 21 in 6-4 loss

A game of replies before the turn

Cincinnati struck first and did it without waiting for a big extra-base hit. In the opening inning, Sal Stewart lifted a sacrifice fly that brought Carlos Jorge home, and Tyler Stephenson followed by reaching on an infield single that scored Elly De La Cruz. It was a tidy early summary of the Reds’ offense: five walks on the night, only eight hits, but enough pressure to make singles and productive outs count.

Chicago answered in pieces and, for a while, looked positioned to make that pressure matter more. Carson Kelly’s single in the second brought home Nico Hoerner, and Ian Happ’s solo homer to right-center in the third tied the game at 2-2. The Cubs kept putting runners on. Michael Conforto finished 3-for-4, Kelly went 2-for-2 with a walk, and Dansby Swanson added a hit and a walk. Chase Burns, Cincinnati’s starter, needed 67 pitches to get through three innings, a sign that the Cubs were making the Reds work even before the game tilted.

The lead changed hands twice before the middle innings were over. Stewart’s run-scoring ground ball double play in the third nudged Cincinnati back in front at 3-2, but the Cubs produced their best swing of the night in the fourth. Kelly and Swanson both scored on Seiya Suzuki’s single to right, and Chicago had its only lead at 4-3. In a game decided by sequencing, that moment felt important. It just did not last long enough.

The sixth belonged to De La Cruz and Trevino

What separated the Reds was not volume but timing. The game sat at 4-3 until the sixth, when De La Cruz again forced his way into the middle of everything. He reached base in all four of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with two walks, and one of those trips around the bases became the tying run. Eugenio Suarez singled to left, De La Cruz scored, and suddenly the Cubs’ slim control was gone.

Cincinnati kept the inning moving. Jose Trevino then singled to right and brought home JJ Bleday and Suarez for the decisive two runs. That sequence turned a one-run deficit into a 6-4 Reds lead, and it pinned the loss to Clay Holmes’ line. Holmes was charged with all six Cincinnati runs across 5 1/3 innings, along with five walks on 97 pitches. The Reds did not homer, but they made their contact matter: Stewart drove in two, Trevino drove in two, Stephenson added one RBI, and Suarez had the tie-making hit.

Our take: the loudest number belonged to Chicago

The stat that lingers is 21 runners left on base by the Cubs. That is enormous traffic for a four-run night, especially when paired with nine hits, four walks and 166 pitches seen. Chicago did enough to keep pushing Cincinnati’s staff, but only one of its nine hits went for extra bases, Happ’s home run. Our take: this was less about a silent offense than an incomplete one. The Cubs created opportunities all evening; they just did not convert enough of them after the fourth inning.

That is also why Cincinnati can feel good about the way it closed. Julian Aguiar covered three middle innings and allowed two runs, which kept the game within reach long enough for the sixth-inning rally to matter. Then Brock Burke, Tejay Antone and Emilio Pagan handled the final three innings without allowing a run. Together they gave up one hit, one walk and struck out three, with Pagan collecting the save. For a pitching group that had already been forced to navigate 13 Chicago baserunners, those last three innings were the cleanest part of the night.

The Reds still have something to tighten up themselves. Their pitchers also threw 166 pitches, and Chicago’s steady stream of baserunners meant this was hardly a polished defensive cruise to the finish. Our take: Cincinnati found the better formula in the decisive spots, but a cleaner early run-prevention effort would spare it from needing a rescue inning. On this night, though, the formula was enough. De La Cruz kept appearing on base, Trevino delivered the biggest swing of the scoreboard, and the Reds turned one swing inning into a 6-4 win.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Inning

   Stewart hit sacrifice fly to right, Jorge scored, De La Cruz to third.

2. 1st Inning

   Stephenson reached on infield single to second, De La Cruz scored.

3. 2nd Inning

   Kelly singled to right, Hoerner scored, Conforto to second.

4. 3rd Inning

   Happ homered to right center (366 feet).

5. 3rd Inning

   Stewart grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Jorge scored, De La Cruz out at second.

6. 4th Inning

   Suzuki singled to right, Kelly scored and Swanson scored.

7. 6th Inning

   Suárez singled to left, De La Cruz scored, Bleday to second, Stephenson to third.

8. 6th Inning

   Trevino singled to right, Bleday scored and Suárez scored, Rodríguez to third.