(AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Coming off of a series were they got swept by the Pirates, the Cubs were looking to get back on track against division rival Cincinnati. The Cubs had the right man on the mound to get the team back on track in Scott Feldman who has been stellar latley for the Cubs. He was opposed by Bronson Arroyo.
The Cubs jumped out to a lead in the top of the second when Darwin Barney hit a sac fly to drive in Luis Valbuena who hit a double ,and then advanced to third on a Dioner Navarro single. With Navarro on first and two dead Scott Feldman stepped to the plate. You would think it would be pretty much an automatic out for the Reds , but Cubs pitchers lead the MLB in RBI’s. With a full count Feldman cranked a 385 ft blast into the seats in right to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.
Feldman was cruising along until the bottom of the fourth. Feldman struck out Cozart, and thengave up a homerun to Joey Votto, and the Reds cut the lead to 3-1, but the Reds were far from done doing damage. The next batter Brandon Phillips reached on a single ,and then made it all the way to third on a wild pitch by Feldman. Feldman then walked Todd Frazier, and then Xavier Paul drove in Phillips with a single ,and the Reds cut the deficit to 3-2. With Paul on first and Frazier on third Ryan Hanigan stepped up to the plate. on the seventh pitch of the at bat Hanigan deposited the pitch to left field for a three run homer ,and the Reds took a 5-3 lead and never looked back. Feldman went 5.1 innings allowing 5 earned runs, who was much less than stellar this time out.
The Cubs would cut the deficit to one run in the top of the eight when Valbuena singled in Ryan Sweeney after he doubled to lead of the inning. The single cut the Cincinnati lead to 5-4. In the bottom half of the inning, with Hector Rondon Pitching, Joey Votto walked to start the inning and Brandon Phillips hit the ninth pitch of his at bat 409 ft to center field to give the Reds a 7-4 lead,and that was the final tally.
Scott Feldman picked up the loss dropping him to 4-4 on the year. Bronson Arroyo picked up the win making him 5-4 on the year , and Aroldis Chapman picked up his eleventh save of the year. Travis Wood (4-2, 2.24 ERA) take the mound tommorw for the Cubs lookng to stop this skid at five games. Opposing him will be Homer Bailey (2-3, 3.09 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 pm central time.
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