Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Reds get 2nd wind vs. Cubs

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CHICAGO — Phillip Ervin may be a late-bloomer, but the Cincinnati outfielder has arrived in the majors with bang.

Ervin hit a two-run home run to snap a tie in the seventh inning and had four RBI in his first major league start as the Reds rebounded from blowing a nine-run lead to defeat the Chicago Cubs 13-10 on Thursday.

Ervin, in right field in his fifth game, also had a single and double in four at-bats. On Wednesday, the 25-year-old homered as a pinch hitter for his first hit.

“I have struggled through the minors a bit, so to come up here just showing everybody I can play, it just feels

good,” said Ervin, who appeared in three games in April before his recall this week from Class AAA. “So I’m just trying to take it as it is and have fun right now.”

Joey Votto lofted a threerun home run in a nine-run, second-inning rally as Cincinnati raced to a 9-0 lead against Cubs starter Jon Lester on a warm day with the wind blowing out.

Ian Happ hit two solo shots and a sacrifice fly, and Alex Avila went deep and had three RBI for the Cubs, who used six home runs to erase a nine-run deficit for the first time since August 1989 versus Houston.

“A lot of times, that’s a hard game to hold on to because you’ve lost so much momentum,” Reds Manager Bryan Price said. “We were able to hold the line a little bit and settle things down, and then Ervin hits the big homer to make it 11-9.”

Drew Storen (4-2) pitched a scoreless sixth for the victory, then Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his 22nd save in 23 chances. Justin Grimm (12), who gave up Erwin’s home run and was the second of five Cubs relievers, took the loss.

Happ, Avila, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez homered in the fourth as the Cubs went deep four times in an inning for the first time since June 2008 to cut it to 9-6.

Kyle Schwarber homered to lead off the fifth, then Anthony Rizzo and Avila drove in runs with doubles against Michael Lorenzen to tie it at 9.

The Reds sent 13 men to the plate in the second. Eugenio Suarez and Ervin each had a single and a double in the eight-hit outburst.

Lester was pulled with left lat tightness with two outs in the inning and saw a doctor after the game. Manager Joe Maddon didn’t have a report on the lefty, but knew his velocity was down and that he lacked finishing pop on pitches.

“They had a lot of soft hits over the infielders’ heads,” Maddon said. “The cutter was down to 84-85 (mph). That’s not quite right.”

Lester was charged with 9 runs, 7 earned, and was replaced by Mike Montgomery after facing 11 batters in the inning and Cincinnati leading 8-0.

It was Cincinnati’s biggest rally since scoring 10 runs in August 2015 versus Detroit.

Montgomery allowed no runs in 41/3 innings to set the stage for the Cubs’ comeback.

“We had a chance to re-group and at that point we just started hitting,” Montgomery said. “Our offense was unbelievab­le today. It was really just that one inning.”

Bryant led off the fourth with a drive to left that bounced off the bleachers and onto Waveland Avenue. Avila’s two-run home run was followed by consecutiv­e solo shots from Happ and Baez off Reds starter Scott Feldman, who allowed six runs in 32/3 innings.

Cincinnati permitted four home runs in an inning for the first time since September 2007 versus Milwaukee.

After Chicago tied it 9-9 in the fifth, Ervin put the Reds back in front 11-9 in the seventh. Happ’s sac fly in the bottom half made it 11-10. The Reds added insurance runs in the eighth and ninth.

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