Cubs starter Matt Garza has baseball's best strikeout rate. He's only allowed one home run all season long. And now he's the owner of a 1-4 record, as the Chicago Cubs fell to the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 in a Friday matinee.
Reds Vs. Cubs: Matt Garza Allows First Home Run, Other Runs Too In Loss
After Garza and Edinson Volquez traded some zeroes early on, this one got off to a good start for Chicago in the bottom of the third when Volquez uncorked a high fastball that got past Ramon Hernandez with a runner on third. It was Garza who came in to score on the passed ball, establishing an early lead.
But the lead went away just minutes later, when Jay Bruce stood in with two on and one out and took Garza yard to right field. The three-run shot was the first home run that Garza has allowed all season.
The Cubs got one back in the bottom half on an anticlimactic run-scoring double play, but then the Reds extended their lead in the fifth on RBI singles by Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. Ahead 5-2, the Reds were in good position to win themselves the series opener.
However, it didn't come easily. Aramis Ramirez singled home Darwin Barney in the bottom of the fifth. And in the bottom of the sixth, Geovany Soto singled home Marlon Byrd, and the Cubs wound up loading the bases with nobody out in a 5-4 game. All they needed was a fly ball or a slow grounder. Except, against Sam LeCure:
-K Fukudome struck out looking
-D Barney fouled out to catcher
-S Castro grounded out to second
The Reds survived the sixth with a lead still intact, and the Cubs wouldn't threaten the rest of the way. Fukudome led off the ninth with a walk against Francisco Cordero but immediately got doubled off, and Starlin Castro flew out to end it.
The series continues on Saturday, with Bronson Arroyo opposing Casey Coleman.
For more on the Reds and Cubs, please visit team blogs Red Reporter and Bleed Cubbie Blue.
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