Jonathan India and Nick Castellanos connected for first-inning home runs and Wade Miley struck out eight in seven strong innings to boost the visiting Cincinnati Reds to a 4-3 victory against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
Cincinnati (74-66) snapped Chicago’s season-best seven-game winning streak behind an early boost and a late flurry. India, who had two hits, homered against Cubs starter Adrian Sampson leading off the game, and Castellanos followed suit two batters later.
Mike Moustakas and Kyle Farmer contributed back-to-back RBI singles with two outs in the eighth inning to provide valuable insurance for the Reds.
Miley made the support stand up before a brief bullpen hiccup, scattering one run and five hits without walking a batter. The left-hander improved to 12-5 while working seven innings for the third time in his past five starts.
Chicago rallied for two runs in the eighth against Michael Lorenzen, as Rafael Ortega and Ian Happ hit solo home runs to account for the final margin. Mychal Givens worked around a two-out single in the ninth to earn his sixth save.
The Cubs drew to within 2-1 with two outs in the third inning, as Willson Contreras smacked a solo home run to left center, marking the 14th successive game in which Chicago has gone deep.
Chicago (64-76) threatened to tie the game in the sixth but was the recipient of tough luck. With Happ aboard with a two-out single, Patrick Wisdom lined a shot off the base of the wall in left center. The ball vanished in the iconic Wrigley Field ivy, however, and went for a ground-rule double, holding Happ at third base.
Miley escaped the threat by retiring Matt Duffy on a soft grounder back to the mound.
Happ was 3-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to eight games.
Sampson (0-2) spaced two runs and six hits in five innings with one walk and two strikeouts.
Chicago’s Jason Heyward was a late scratch with cramping in his right hamstring.
–Field Level Media