Cubs fall to Reds, lose 9 of last 11

Cubs fall to Reds, lose 9 of last 11 originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago

TJ Friedl hit a three-run homer, Nick Lodolo pitched six effective innings and the Cincinnati Reds overcome the fall Chicago puppies 5-2 on Sunday.

Jake Fraley had three hits for Cincinnati, who took two of three in the weekend series. Spencer Steer and Jeimer Candelario each had two hits.

Lodolo (5-2) allowed two runs and seven hits in its second straight win. The lefty struck out three and walked one.

Nick Martinez pitched two scoreless innings for Cincinnati before Alexis Díaz got three strikeouts for his 12th save.

Hitter Michael Busch reached on a leadoff walk in the ninth, but the batter Pete Crow-Armstrong flew out, Nico Hoerner jumped to shortstop and Seiya Suzuki started looking.

Cody Bellinger had three hits for Chicago, which lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

Cubs rookie Ben Brown (1-2) was charged with five runs and six hits in five innings. Brown was coming off a dominant performance in Milwaukee, striking out 10 while throwing seven hitless innings on Tuesday.

Cincinnati took control with four runs in the second. Jonathan India hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly. After Will Benson struck out for the second out, Friedl hit a three-run shot into the right field bleachers for his first home run of the season.

Candelario singled and scored on Fraley’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.

That was more than enough for Lodolo, who escaped a traffic jam in fifth when Christopher Morel popped into a double play in the bottom of the inning.

ROSTER MOVEMENTS

Reds: Reliever Justin Wilson (left shoulder tightness) was activated from the 15-day injured list, and LHP Alex Young was optioned to Triple-A Louisville.

Cubs: David Bote recalled from Triple-A Iowa and also an infielder Nick Madrigal it was acquired by the team’s top minor league affiliate. Minor league club reliever before game. RHP Adbert Alzolay (forearm strain) was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

NEXT

Reds: LHP Andrew Abbott (3-5, 3.29 ERA) opens a series at Colorado on Monday against Ryan Feltner (1-4, 5.46 ERA).

Puppies: LHP Shota Imanaga (5-1, 1.86 ERA) takes the mound Tuesday night to begin a two-game citywide series against RHP Chris Flexen (2-5, 5.50 ERA) and the visitors White socks.