Cubs collect 17 hits in blowout win over Reds |
CINCINNATI - The 2024 Chicago Cubs (52-58) can be summed up in one word, FRUSTRATING. This was a team that showed massive growth last season, and many picked them to win the NL Central this season, only to be proven wrong by this team. Perhaps the most frustrating part of this whole team falls on the offense or lack thereof, as the Cubs offense has been the definition of inconsistent.
One day they might go and score 10 runs, and then the next four games, they may score 10 runs total. It's a roller coaster that has gone on far too long, and it is becoming hard for this team to consistently win games when they can't consistently score. As you look back on this season, the Cubs magic number is four as in four runs per game. When they hit that mark, they win a lot of games, as they are an impressive 47-15 when scoring at least four runs. That goes to show how bad their offense has been otherwise, with this team being six games under .500. Looking to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds (52-56) at the Great American Ballpark, and it was the Cubs offense that shouldered the load as they took down the Reds 13-4. It was a rare division win for this team, as winning inside the NL Central has been an issue for them this season, and it was a win that came unexpected when you looked at the pitching matchup between Kyle Hendricks and Nick Lodolo. Hendricks has had a rough season, to say the least, but now and then, he finds a way to turn out a quality outing. Although this wasn't his best start, he did manage to pick up his third win of the season, giving the Cubs five innings of three-run ball. That was more than Lodolo could say as he pitched into the sixth but gave up a season-high eight earned runs to take the loss. Not only is scoring four runs important for this team, but so is scoring first, and the Cubs made sure to do that in the second as they opened up a 2-0 lead. Nico Hoerner doubled home the games first run with Christian Bethancourt picking up his first Cub RBI with a single. Nico delivers a double and the Cubs are on the board first! pic.twitter.com/LTCpjEHpV9 Bethancourt makes it 2-0. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/uJdDI2yG7d One inning later, it was the Cubs breaking things wide open as they tacked on four more runs off Lodolo to take a 6-0 lead through three. With Ian Happ starting things off with a single, Isaac Paredes was hit by a pitch as the Cubs had two on and no outs. Seiya Suzuki kept the line moving with an RBI double to bring home both runners, and Patrick Wisdom tacked on another RBI double later in the inning to extend the Cubs lead to 6-0. Had they not scored the rest of the way, that hit from Wisdom would be considered the game-winner, as he has come up with several clutch hits throughout this road trip. The Cubs plate 4 in the 3rd! pic.twitter.com/Kc0h0qaGI4 With the Cubs' offense stalling out a bit after that, you had a feeling that they would need to add some more runs to win this game. That especially came true in the fourth inning when the Reds started to put together better at-bats against Hendricks, which continued into the fifth. Three batters into the fifth, the Reds had things within 6-3 as Jake Fraley connected for a three-run homer and still had no one out in the inning. Hendricks finished the fifth without further damage, but with three runs coming in to score, this was a brand-new ball game. Leave it to one of the biggest Reds killers of all time to halt that momentum as Pete Crow-Armstrong picked up a two-out single to extend the Cubs sixth inning only to have Happ leave the yard for his 17th homer as he was just a triple short of the cycle. Cincy is Ian’s Happ(y) place. 😏 pic.twitter.com/Lru7KJ2Cz2 That homer seemed to awaken the Cubs offense, as they scored seven unanswered runs across the next three innings to break things wide open 13-3. Suzuki tacked on the third run of the sixth with another RBI double as he brought in Paredes to push their lead to 9-3. They then scored twice in each of the next two frames, with Crow-Armstrong delivering an RBI double in the seventh and Cody Bellinger capping off the scoring with a two-run single in the eighth. Cody's third hit of the night makes it 1⃣3⃣. pic.twitter.com/PQ9q5pPihz Isaac Paredes ropes his 2nd double of the game! pic.twitter.com/BtPQ9Gurme In what was another strong pitching performance from the Cubs pen, the Reds did manage to scratch across a run in the eighth. A pair of RBI doubles did the trick, with Will Benson picking up the game's final RBI to make this a 13-4 game before ending by that score. The Cubs slugged out 17 hits in the win, with Happ and Bellinger leading the way with three. Both drove in a pair of runs in what was a great day all around for their offense, as Suzuki paced the Cubs with three RBIs. Along with two scoreless frames from Drew Smyly, Tyson Miller and Porter Hodge also saw work on the mound, as their ERAs sit at 2.15 and 2.05, respectively. Up next: HOME 🛫 “It’s the best version of us that we’ve had so far this year.” “We just hit a lot of balls hard and had a lot of good at-bats against a good pitcher.”
Happ: 3-for-4, HR, 2B, BB, 2RBI, 3R.
Suzuki: 2-for-5, 2 2B, 3RBI.
Paredes: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 3R. pic.twitter.com/1lWQotYkgs
Nico Hoerner on the Cubs' lineup the last two games. pic.twitter.com/H3irJAkQ2W
The Cubs tallied a season-high 17 hits today 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jb68oUSOKF
