Chicago Cubs can't get offense going in 2-1 loss to Reds

Pitching and defense could not cover for a struggling Chicago Cubs offense in a 2-1 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs managed 6 hits and drew 4 walks, and a team that had won three straight 1-run games was held in check by Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo (10-12) and three relievers.

Castillo struck out a pair and limited the National League Central leaders to an earned run on 4 hits in 6⅔ innings.

The Cubs scored 5 runs in the three-game series. They have been limited to 2.1 runs per game over their last seven and have not scored more than 4 in a game since a 6-5 loss to Washington on Sept. 8.

"We've just got to do better," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "We've got to do better than 1 run somehow under the circumstances. Of the three games, we're fortunate to win two. We really are."

Two longballs helped Cincinnati beat the Cubs for the first time in nine tries.

Scott Schebler homered to center field on the first pitch of the game from Cubs starter Jose Quintana (13-10). Phillip Ervin made it 2-0 by blasting a full-count pitch to the bleachers in left-center to open the fourth.

Quintana had to throw 28 first-inning pitches to escape a bases-loaded jam. Overall, the left-hander allowed 5 hits, walked three and struck out seven before Maddon pinch hit for him in the fifth.

"My last couple of starts I came through the first inning pretty good," Quintana said. "I threw more pitches than usual, but I got out of the jam with 1 run, and that's good. After, I tried to hit my spots and make some big pitches."

The Cubs scored their only run in the fifth inning when Albert Almora drove in Addison Russell on a sacrifice fly.

Earlier in the fifth, Russell drew a one-out walk to bring up Willson Contreras, pinch hitting for Quintana.

Contreras hammered a ball to center field and began to walk to first base, believing it to be a home run. It wasn't. The ball bounced off the ivy directly to Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton.

Contreras would have been out easily at second base had the throw from the outfield been anywhere close to the bag. It wasn't.

Contreras later said he was embarrassed and that he apologized to his team and apologized to Castillo while on the bases.

"I thought it was gone," he said. "I hit it super good … Thank God I was able to run hard and make it to second base because what I did was not good for baseball."

His manager agreed.

"Horrible," Maddon said of the play. "I didn't like that at all. Not at all. It will be addressed. The whole team didn't like that."

The Cubs had other scoring chances they could not convert.

With runners at the corners and two outs in the fourth, Victor Caratini drilled a shot down the right-field line that was ruled foul to the displeasure of 41,314 fans. Maddon termed the call by first-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt "possibly a game changer."

The Cubs had another opportunity in the seventh when pinch hitter Kris Bryant and Almora singled consecutively and advanced on a wild pitch by reliever Amir Garrett. The threat ended with a swinging strikeout of Anthony Rizzo, who slammed his helmet to the ground in frustration.

With two away in the eighth, Daniel Murphy tried to stretch a single down the left-field line into a double and was thrown out at second base several feet from the bag.

"We hit some balls better today without any kind of benefit to it," Maddon said.

The Cubs did maintain their 2½-game Central Division lead over Milwaukee. The Brewers dropped a 3-2 decision to visiting Pittsburgh.