Patrick Wisdom homered in his fourth consecutive game and Ian Happ continued his domination of the Cincinnati Reds with an insurance three-run homer to lead the visiting Chicago Cubs to a 7-4 win on Monday night.
Happ, who played nearby at the University of Cincinnati, added an RBI double and drove in four runs for the Cubs, who won the opener of the four-game series. Happ has 14 career homers and 29 RBIs at Great American Ball Park in 35 games.
Lefty Drew Smyly (2-5) won for just the second time in eight starts, allowing three runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking two. David Robertson pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save.
Aristides Aquino homered twice for the Reds, who were playing their 1,500th regular season game at Great American Ball Park since it opened in 2003 and lost the opener of their seven-game homestand.
The Cubs broke through against Reds starter Vladimir Gutierrez (0-6) in the fourth when Seiya Suzuki and Happ opened with doubles off Gutierrez for a 1-0 lead. Gutierrez settled down to retire the next two batters before Alfonso Rivas lined a one-hopper to Mike Moustakas at third that the Cincinnati infielder couldn’t handle.
The next batter, Wisdom, drilled a first-pitch fastball to the seats in right-center for a three-run homer that gave Chicago a 4-0 lead. It was his 10th long ball of the season.
Gutierrez allowed four runs and four hits over four innings, striking out five and walking two in losing his sixth decision in seven starts.
The Reds got to Smyly in the sixth for three runs on a pair of home runs. Tommy Pham’s fifth homer of the season, a solo one-out shot to left, made it 4-1. Three batters later, Aquino crushed a knuckle-curve to left-center for his third homer of the season, cutting the Chicago lead to one, 4-3, and chasing Smyly from the game.
The Cubs immediately got the three runs back when Happ greeted reliever Luis Cessa by drilling a slider to the seats in right-center for his fourth homer.
Aquino blasted his second homer of the night and third of the year, a solo drive off Chris Martin, with two outs in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
