Chicago Cubs designated hitter Cody Bellinger (2) hits a base hit in the third inning of the MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Ian Happ went 3-for-4 with a tape measure home run and Seiya Suzuki added a pair of doubles and three RBIs as the visiting Chicago Cubs salvaged the series finale with a 13-4 rout of the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
Happ, who attended the University of Cincinnati, has 18 homers and 49 RBIs in 56 career games at Great American Ball Park, his best totals in any visiting park.
Cody Bellinger added three hits, two runs and two RBIs for the Cubs, who had nine doubles and a season-high 17 hits, three more than their previous high.
Kyle Hendricks (3-9) won for just the second time in seven starts, allowing three runs on four hits over five innings. He walked two and struck out three. Chicago defeated Cincinnati for only the third time in 10 tries this season.
Santiago Espinal had two hits and extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
After going down in order in the first, the Cubs rocked Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo (8-4) for eight hits and six runs over the next two innings.
In the second, Bellinger singled, took second on a groundout and scored on Nico Hoerner’s doubled. With two outs, Christian Bethancourt singled home Hoerner to double the lead.
The first five Chicago batters reached in the third, with four of them scoring for a 6-0 lead.
Lodolo was ahead of the first four batters 0-2 but surrendered a single, hit a batter, then surrendered a two-run double by Suzuki and a single to Bellinger. Patrick Wisdom doubled home two more runs for a 6-0 lead.
Lodolo was charged with 11 hits and eight runs. Since starting the season 8-2, Lodolo has gone 0-2 with a 6.54 ERA in his last six starts.
Hendricks retired the first 10 batters before Elly De La Cruz lined a 1-0 pitch to the left-center gap, just beyond the reach of the left fielder Happ, in the fourth inning.
After Jake Fraley cut Chicago’s lead in half with a three-run homer off Hendricks in the fifth, the Cubs scored three with two outs in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Two of those came on Happ’s 17th home run of the season. The blast was estimated at 425 feet as it carried to the center field berm to put the Cubs ahead 8-3.
Right-hander Jakob Junis entered in his Cincinnati debut and allowed back-to-back doubles to Isaac Paredes and Suzuki for a 9-3 lead.
–Field Level Media
