The Cubs continued their tuneup for the postseason Tuesday night as Miguel Montero smacked a two-run double to back Dan Haren in a 4-1 rain-delayed victory at Great American Ball Park, handing the Reds their 10th straight loss.
Montero's hit came in a four-run first against rookie Josh Smith.
Haren, who has said he will likely retire after this season, gave up
three hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out six. The veteran
right-hander was making his first start since Sept. 18, and he was able
to do some fine-tuning during side sessions, which helped.
"You could see by the hitters' reaction
[how well he was throwing]," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "His
experience matters. You know he's not intimidated or afraid of anything
or any moment."
Said Haren: "I'm confident I can get the job done. That said, it's
just been a pleasure being around the guys. I'll be there with them in
the dugout regardless. When my name's called, I'll be ready for sure."
Haren's 7 1/3 scoreless innings
9/29/15: Dan Haren allows only three hits over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out six batters in his win over the Reds
The Cubs nearly posted their third consecutive shutout, but the Reds tallied in the ninth when Jason Bourgeois reached third on an error by Austin Jackson and scored on Ivan De Jesus Jr.'s groundout.
Smith and the Reds' bullpen followed the first inning with eight scoreless.
"It was big, not only for me but most of the bullpen," Smith said.
"Those guys have had to work a lot here lately. Our job as starters is
to go deep. I wanted to go at least six, but it was big to get five
after that debacle of the first inning."
The start of the game was delayed 2 hours 31 minutes because of rain.
Inclement weather also postponed the Cardinals-Pirates game Tuesday.
The Cubs, who have secured a postseason berth, are still uncertain about
who they'll face in the Wild Card Game presented by Budweiser on Oct.
7. Chicago is now three games behind Pittsburgh for the top Wild Card spot. Watch the remaining regular-season games on MLB.TV.
• Shop for Cubs postseason gear MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Fast start: Haren got an at-bat before he took the mound as the
Cubs sent eight batters to the plate in the first and opened a 4-0 lead.
Chicago loaded the bases with one out and tallied on Tommy La Stella's sacrifice fly, Montero's two-run double and an RBI single by Javier Baez. Montero collected his 500th and 501st career RBIs with his hit.
Baez's RBI single
9/29/15: Javier Baez singles to right field off Josh Smith to knock in Miguel Montero for the Cubs' fourth run of the 1st inning
Votto bunts, with two strikes? In a strange sequence in the bottom of the first inning during a 2-2 count with two outs, Joey Votto
bunted foul for the strikeout. After the at-bat, he was seen speaking
with manager Bryan Price in the corner of the dugout. Votto seemed to
grimace after he popped up a foul ball on the previous pitch, and Price
said after the game that Votto felt some soreness in the back of his
shoulder -- but neither disclosed whether that was the reason for his
bunt attempt.
Votto strikes out on bunt
9/29/15: After appearing to be in pain on an earlier swing, Joey Votto bunts a third strike foul to end the 1st inning
Votto was 0-for-3 before walking on four pitches vs. Carl Edwards Jr. in the ninth to extend his career-high streak of reaching safely to 46 games -- the longest streak in the Majors since Michael Cuddyer did it for the Rockies in 2013.
• Is Votto #AwardWorthy? Vote now for Best Major Leaguer
"I don't care. It doesn't mean a single thing to me," Votto said of
his streak. "If it ended today, it wouldn't have meant anything to me.
What matters to me is we keep losing." More >
Votto walks to extend streak
9/29/15: Joey Votto draws a walk in the bottom of the 9th to reach base for the 46th straight game
First time for everything: Edwards won't forget his first
Major League at-bat. Because Maddon wanted the right-hander to stay in
the game, Edwards got an at-bat in the ninth, but it was against
hard-throwing Aroldis Chapman. Edwards was told not to swing, got ahead 3-0 in the count and then struck out looking.
"It's kind of memorable," Maddon said. More >
Edwards Jr.'s first at-bat
9/29/15:
Relief pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. faces Aroldis Chapman in the 9th in his
first career at-bat and is called out on strikes
Hits off Haren hard to come by: One day after being no-hit
into the eighth inning by the Nationals, the Reds struggled to get hits
vs. Haren. The veteran right-hander retired 17 of his first 18 batters,
with Eugenio Suarez's second-inning single in front of center fielder Dexter Fowler
being the lone hit over the first five innings. Suarez reached third
base on Fowler's error on the play. The Reds got a second hit in the
sixth on a two-out infield single by Bourgeois before Tucker Barnhart's double in the eighth prompted Haren's exit.
Suarez gets to third on error
9/29/15:
Eugenio Suarez lines a single to center, then gets to third after the
ball goes through Dextacer Fowler's legs in the 2nd
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
• Chicago's Anthony Rizzo
was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat in the first inning. It's the
30th time he's been plunked, and he joins Don Baylor as the only players
in Major League history to hit 30 home runs and be hit by a pitch 30
times in a single season. Baylor belted 31 home runs and was hit 35
times in 1986.
Rizzo's 30 hit-by-pitches
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo leads Major League Baseball with 30 hit-by-pitches on the 2015 season
"This one stung a little more," Rizzo said. "This was in the top five
of the ones that hurt a little more. [Being in the 30-30 club] is cool.
It's really cool."
• Cut4: Rizzo joins exclusive 30 HBP/30 HR club
• With Tuesday's delayed start, the Reds now have totaled 32 hours 56
minutes of delays this season, including 26 hours 57 minutes at Great
American Ball Park. It's the highest total at home since the Reds
started tracking weather delays in 1978. FRAZIER EXITS EARLY
Reds third baseman Todd Frazier
exited the game before the top of the fourth inning because of a slight
strain of his right Achilles tendon. Frazier, who is considered day to
day, hurt himself attempting an unsuccessful sliding catch of Rizzo's
foul popup. More >
Frazier leaves the game
9/29/15: Todd Frazier exits the game in the top of the 4th inning with a slight strain of his Achilles tendon
WHAT'S NEXT Cubs: Lefty Jon Lester
will make his 32nd start of the season on Wednesday in the second game
of this three-game series. Lester is two K's shy of his fourth
200-strikeout season, and four shy of tying Ken Holtzman's record for
the most by a left-hander in Cubs history. First pitch is scheduled for
6:10 p.m. CT. Reds: Anthony DeSclafani
will make his team-leading 31st and final start of the season in the
7:10 p.m. ET game. DeSclafani allowed a season-high seven runs (five
earned) on nine hits over 6 1/3 innings for a 12-5 loss to the Mets on
Friday.
Watch every out-of-market regular season game live on MLB.TV.
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