​Alex Bregman is the one Cubs player who likely isn’t thrilled about four days off for the All-Star break. He homered for the second straight game, delivering a three-run blast that extended the Cubs’ lead to four in the seventh inning. Bregman finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs on the afternoon, helping the Cubs hold on for an 8-4 victory over the Reds and sealing a 4-2 road trip.
The Cubs grabbed an early lead when Reds starter Andrew Abbott endured a 30-pitch first inning. Pete Crow-Armstrong, whose plate discipline has surged this season, led off with a walk and swiped second, his 24th theft of the year—second in the National League only to Nasim Núñez of the Nationals. That stolen base set the tone for the inning. Suzuki flied to center, with PCA advancing to third, and Bregman doubled to bring home PCA. Carson Kelly was then rung up, but Bregman scored on a Michael Busch double to make it 2-0.
More on the first-inning scoring from BC BCB’s JohnW53 highlights that today’s runs were the Cubs’ first in the opening inning on this six-game road trip. They hadn’t scored in the first since a week ago at home against the Cardinals, and they had been blanked in seven of eight innings across the earlier two games of the series with St. Louis before today.
Matthew Boyd navigated trouble in the first two frames. With runners on first and third and two outs in the first, Eugenio Suárez, a thorn in the Cubs’ side, came to the plate but Boyd struck him out. In the second, the defense came through for Boyd as Dansby Swanson made a superb diving catch on a sinking liner from Tyler Stephenson.
The Reds moved in front with a four-run third behind Boyd, including a two-run homer by Suárez, his second in as many days against the Cubs and the 38th time he has gone deep against Chicago. It’s a reminder of how the Cubs could have faced him more cleanly if Seattle had opted to keep him around; instead, Chicago faced him in three series this year, including the one earlier at Wrigley. Regardless, the Cubs won’t see Suárez or the Reds again until September.
The Cubs wasted no time restoring parity, scoring twice in the fourth. Kelly led off with a walk and moved to third on a Busch double. Nico Hoerner grounded into a fielder’s choice that allowed the runners to hold, and Ian Happ walked to load the bases. Kevin Alcántara, getting a rare start at DH, hit a ball that caromed off second base for a single, scoring two to make it 4-4.
That score held until the seventh, when Chicago turned the game in their favor. Swanson began the inning with a double. Pedro Ramírez batted for Alcántara but struck out, leaving PCA to single, scoring Swanson to push the Cubs ahead. Suzuki followed with a grounder that rolled behind the mound, and Reds second baseman Edwin Arroyo’s misplay allowed another run to score, widening the lead as the Cubs pulled away.