Patrick Wisdom belted a grand slam for one of his two homers, and had a career-high six RBIs, while Christopher Morel also went deep and recorded five hits, as the Chicago Cubs rolled to a 15-7 win over the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night.
Wisdom’s grand slam highlighted a five-run second inning, and he added a solo shot for his 16th, in the sixth, as the Cubs matched a season high with 23 hits to win for the fifth time in eight games.
Morel, meanwhile, is the first Cubs rookie since Micah Hoffpauir in 2008 to record a five-hit game.
Wisdom, Nico Hoerner and P.J. Higgins each had three hits, and teammate Kyle Hendricks (4-6) notched consecutive quality starts for the first time in 2022 by allowing two runs, six hits and striking out seven in six innings.
Meanwhile, Joey Votto and Tommy Pham each homered for one of their three hits apiece, but Cincinnati lost for the second straight night after winning three of four.
The Cubs scored in the first when Willson Contreras came home on third baseman Brandon Drury’s fielding error from Wisdom’s roller. Chicago made it 2-0 on Rafael Ortega’s sacrifice fly in the second. Later in the frame, off Reds rookie Graham Ashcraft (4-2), Wisdom cleared the bases with a drive well into the left-field bleachers.
Chicago went up 7-0 on Morel’s single to center in the third. That ended the night for Ashcraft, whose seven runs allowed were all earned, plus seven hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings.
Cincinnati got its first run in the fourth when Pham scored on Hoerner’s throwing error, after he collided with teammate David Bote trying to field a grounder. Bote exited the game soon after with a shoulder issue.
Votto’s homer in the sixth made it 7-2, but Wisdom went deep as Chicago scored twice in the bottom of the inning. Narcisco Crook delivered a run-scoring single in the seventh for the first hit of his MLB debut. Higgins and Morel homered off outfielder Max Shrock during the Cubs’ five-run eighth.
Pham’s three-run shot came in the ninth.
–Field Level Media