Cubs outlast rain, Reds to squeak out 4-3 win
Cubs manager Joe Maddon has certain little sayings, and one of them applied Saturday night.
Maddon's team sat through a 2-hour, 48-minute rain delay after taking a 3-1 lead and then watched that lead slip away right after play resumed.
But Starlin Castro hit a line-drive single to score Kris Bryant with the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Cubs escaped with a 4-3 victory.
"They did not break our will to win," said Maddon, who has used that one several times this year. "You're on top. You're 3-1. You're looking pretty good. The radar looks like orange, red, whatever, green. Probably not going to play and then you have to play. Give the Reds a lot of credit. They came back and they did what they did. We had opportunities and did not get it done. We eventually had to do it like we did it in the end.
"My point is we did not permit the other team to break our will under the circumstances. That was really impressive among our guys."
Bryant, who had 2 doubles among his 3 hits, led off the ninth with a two-base hit to left-center. After Miguel Montero was hit by a pitch from Tony Cingrani, Castro lined a 1-0 pitch to center for the game winner.
"Maybe a loss of momentum coming off the rain delay," Bryant said. "We never gave up, came back, battled. Strange day, but happy we got the 'W.'"
Montero staked the Cubs to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a 2-run homer, his ninth of the year. Joey Votto brought the Reds within 1 in the fourth with a solo shot off Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks.
The Reds wasted no time tying the game once it resumed. Skip Schumaker led off with a single against Cubs reliever James Russell, and Eugenio Suarez homered into the left-field bleachers.
Hendricks was sharp, and only the long rain delay stopped him. He worked 5 innings, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs. Of the 57 pitches he threw, 43 were strikes. He walked none and struck out 7.
The Reds tied the game with 3 quick hits off left-handed reliever James Russell in the top of the sixth before Justin Grimm came in and quieted things down.
Castro ended up being the hero after suffering some misfortune in the top of the ninth. With two outs, pinch hitter Chris Dominguez hit a chopper that bounced over Castro's head and into left field for a single. Billy Hamilton's single sent Dominguez to third, but Jason Motte was able to retire Skip Schumaker on a groundout.
"How about that?" Maddon said. "The hop going out and the hop coming back in from (center fielder Dexter) Fowler. That's why you talk about rain delays and continue to play the game and the conditions. They can deteriorate rapidly, and you saw that right there. And I'm not blaming the groundskeepers. They do a wonderful job. That's just what happens. Nevertheless, we held serve."