Bote homers, Alzolay dodges jams as Cubs beat Reds
David Bote homered, Adbert Alzolay wriggled out of several jams while pitching into the sixth inning and the surging Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 on Friday.
The Canadian Press David Bote , The Canadian Press
CHICAGO (AP) David Bote had no idea if the ball was going out until he saw the signal from the third-base umpire as he sprinted toward second.
No small feat on a blustery day like this.
Bote homered, Adbert Alzolay combined with three relievers on the Chicago s first shutout and the surging Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 on Friday.
Later today, and throughout the weekend, the Cubs and Reds will do battle at Wrigley Field.
This will be their second series-matchup of the year, the first falling in favor of Cincinnati – though only barely, as all three games were decided by 2 or fewer runs, and the Cubs (21 runs) were just narrowly outscored by the Reds (23) overall.
Theoretically, this is the Cubs last “easy” series for quite a while – their next 17 games are against the Padres (6), Giants (4), Cardinals (3), and Mets (4) – but the Reds aren’t actually all that easy of an opponent. Nick Castellanos is one of the hottest players in baseball at the moment, Jesse Winker has been on fire all year, and Luis Castillo’s second best start of the year (his only other good start, frankly) came against the Cubs (he pitches tomorrow). This series is at Wrigley Field, so that likely helps, but I wouldn’t call it a gimmie, not by any stretch.