After squeaking out a win Monday night, the Cubs handled the Reds on Tuesday with an 8-5 win. Chicago was backed by a solid start from Alec Mills and a nice night from Javier Baez and David Bote, who both added solo home runs later in the contest.
Baez was the star of the night, providing three hits and three runs batted in during his first two-home run performance of the season. Baez tallied 791 combined feet of distance on his two long shots.
Mills gave the Cubs six innings of two-run baseball, striking out three batters while giving up two hits.
After Chicago struggled Monday night with bullpen issues once starter Jon Lester left the game, the Cubs’ relievers came through with a solid performance to leave fans a little less stressed out at the end of the game.
Overall, the Cubs had a similar night offensively, but the late innings went a lot smoother for Chicago. Casey Sadler, Kyle Ryan, Ryan Tepera bridged the gap between Mills and the win on Tuesday night.
For the Reds, the lack of offense has led to consistent concerns in the first five contests. Over the last two games, the Reds have lacked offensive production until the ninth inning.
On Tuesday, a Freddy Galvis two-run shot in the ninth made the game interesting, but Ryan Tepera was able to close it out in the end.
Tyler Mahle continued his struggles from 2019 in his first start of the year by giving up two runs in a lackluster four-inning performance. The Reds’ bullpen, however, did not help out Mahle, with the relieving unit giving up six more runs after Mahle exited.
Nicholas Castellanos was again the bright spot for the Reds. The former Cub went two-for-four with a double and a home run that led the offense for the night until the Galvis home run.
Although some analysts were higher on the Reds than the Cubs coming into this season, the Cubs have gotten off to a hot 4-1 start even though their bullpen has scared them at times.
The Cubs and Reds will play the third match of their four-game series on Wednesday night. Kyle Hendricks will take the mound for the Cubs following a dominant Opening Day start. Opposite him, Sonny Gray will look to get the Reds back on track.
