Ian Happ went 3-for-4 and reached base a career-best five times and the visiting Chicago Cubs scored 11 runs over the final four innings in a 12-5 rout of the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night.
Happ doubled in a six-run seventh inning and walked twice. Patrick Wisdom doubled twice, drove in three runs and scored twice for the Cubs, who snapped a three-game skid.
Trey Mancini also drove in three runs for the Cubs, who evened the series at a game apiece.
Stuart Fairchild homered for the Reds, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. The Reds have homered 10 times in their first five games.
For the second straight game, the Cubs threatened immediately in the first inning as three of the first four batters singled to load the bases with one out. Trey Mancini lined a sacrifice fly to right for a 1-0 Cubs lead.
The Reds, as they did on Monday, responded right away with a Jonathan India double and an RBI single from Jake Fraley to tie the game.
Solo home runs from TJ Friedl and Jason Vosler — his third in as many games — along with stellar defense from Friedl and Will Benson staked the Reds to a 3-1 lead through five innings.
The Cubs cut the Reds lead to 3-2 in the sixth when Wisdom doubled to chase Cincinnati starter Luis Cessa. Eric Hosmer singled off reliever Ian Gibaut to score Wisdom.
Buck Farmer (0-2) replaced Gibaut to start the seventh but couldn’t retire any of the three batters he faced as Happ’s double scored Nico Hoerner to tie the game, 3-3. Farmer was charged with three runs and has taken both of Cincinnati’s losses this season.
Cubs reliever Adbert Alzolay (1-0) allowed two runs on two hits over 2 2/3 innings to earn the win.
The Cubs continued their onslaught against relievers Reiver Sanmartin and Joel Kuhnel as five more runs scored.
The Cincinnati defense that had been so good in the first five innings failed them in the sixth and seventh, committing a pair of errors that helped the Cubs extend their rallies against the weary Reds bullpen.
The Cubs, who had scored just 16 runs in their first four games, added three more in the eighth and one more in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
