Tyler Stephenson belted a three-run homer and Sal Stewart drove in two runs to set the franchise rookie record for RBIs in a season, fueling the visiting Cincinnati Reds to a 10-8 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon.
Stewart went deep in the fifth inning for his team-leading 29th homer of the season. It also marked his 101st RBI, snapping a tie for the franchise rookie record that Jim Greengrass set in 1953.
Stewart added the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning before Stephenson deposited a 1-2 fastball from Trent Thornton (5-5) over the wall in center field to stake Cincinnati to a 7-3 lead. Stephenson’s homer was his 13th of the season and first since Aug. 16.
Jose Trevino launched a solo homer, TJ Friedl also went deep and Elly De La Cruz ripped a two-run single among his three hits.
Cincinnati scored 10 runs for the second straight game to make a winner out of Rhett Lowder (6-8), who allowed three runs on six hits in five innings.
Chicago’s Pedro Ramirez belted a three-run homer off Tejay Antone inside the right-field foul pole in the eighth inning to trim the Reds’ lead to 9-7. Seiya Suzuki ripped an RBI double off Sam Moll to halve the deficit, however Friedl homered in the top of the ninth and Emilio Pagan retired the side in the bottom of the inning to secure his 18th save.
Michael Busch belted a two-run homer and Suzuki joined Nico Hoerner in collecting three hits apiece for the Cubs, who have lost six of their last eight games.
Chicago jumped out to a 3-0 lead before rookie Hector Rodriguez ripped an RBI single to put Cincinnati on the scoreboard.
Stewart sent a 3-1 curveball from David Peterson over the wall in center field to trim the Reds’ deficit, and Trevino deposited a first-pitch fastball from Thornton to forge a 3-3 tie.
Thornton permitted five runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Alex Bregman’s RBI double opened the scoring in the first inning before Busch deposited a 1-1 fastball from Lowder over the wall in right field to take Chicago to a 3-0 lead in the third.
