Sports writer
Chicago Crusader
In a strong pitchers duel held at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night,
the Chicago Cubs fell to the Cincinnati Reds 3-2, in front of a large
crowd of 36,578 fans in attendance.
The loss for the Cubs was a tough one, as the team missed another
opportunity to gain ground on their 2019 National League Central division foes
Milwaukee Brewers, who lost prior to the game 2-1, to the San Diego
Padres on Wednesday night.
The Cubs offense managed just four hits in their 3-2 loss to the Reds,
due to the superb pitching of Cincinnati starter Tyler Mahle, who allowed
only one run on one hit in six innings.
Cubs pitcher Jon Lester would also match Mahle dominate performance,
holding Reds batters to one run, six hits in five-plus innings of
work.
Both pitchers numbers were phenomenal.
Although phenomenal, Lester would make one mistake in the fourth
inning. Giving up a solo shot to third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who hit
his 48th home run of the season. Suárez homer gave him the most ever
by a Venezuelan player, breaking the previous mark of 47 by Andrés
“Big Cat” Galarraga.
Suárez also tied a NL record for homers by a third baseman.Tying Mike
Schmidt of the 1980 Phillies and Adrián Beltré of the 2004 Dodgers.
The Cubs offense didn’t capitalize with runners in scoring position,
leaving pitcher Jon Lester with little run support. Although the Cubs
offense struggled to score runs, catcher Wilson Contreras provided one
last hope in the bottom of the 7th inning. Parking a 0-2 pitch to left
center field for his 24th homer of the season. Tying the game at 2-2.
For the next two innings, both team’s struggled to score runs. As
Cincinnati’s Aristides Aquino started the winning rally against James
Norwood (0-1) with a single to left. After Aquino advanced on a wild
pitch, Josh VanMeter walked, putting runners on first and second.
While batting sixth in the batting order, Reds short stop Jose
Iglesias doubled to right field off of Cubs right hand pitcher James
Norwood to score Aquino with the go-ahead run.
Final Score: Reds 3, Cubs 2
Pennant Watch:
On Thursday September 19, the Cubs will open a four game series
against NL Central Divison rivals St.Louis Cardinals. The team will
look to gain ground on their first place division foes. With a hopes
of winning 3 out of 4 games, or earning a 4 game sweep.
