Elly De La Cruz drove in a pair on a go-ahead triple while Jake Fraley finished 3-for-4 as the visiting Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 in 10 innings in the regular-season finale on Sunday.
After nine scoreless innings, De La Cruz slashed a two-run triple off Ethan Roberts (1-1). Tyler Stephenson then added an insurance run with a single to center field, extending the Reds’ lead to 3-0.
Tony Santillan (3-3) recorded the win with a perfect ninth before Buck Farmer picked up his first save of the season with a scoreless 10th. Cincinnati (77-85) snapped a five-game losing streak to finish the season.
Chicago (83-79) had its two-game winning streak snapped as the offense mustered just three hits. In his first start of the year, Caleb Kilian threw five scoreless innings of three-hit ball. The 27-year-old righty struck out four and walked a pair.
Cincinnati threatened in the top of the fourth as Stephenson led off with a walk and TJ Friedl singled with one out. After both runners advanced on Kilian’s wild pitch, Stephenson was thrown out at home by third baseman Isaac Paredes on Ty France’s groundout. Kilian then got Fraley to fly out to escape the inning.
Seiya Suzuki singled to begin the bottom of the fourth, followed by Michael Busch’s walk. Reds starter Hunter Greene then retired Paredes and Pete Crow-Armstrong on a lineout and a flyout, respectively. Greene struck out Christian Bethancourt for the final out of the inning.
After four scoreless innings of one-hit ball, Greene was replaced by Fernando Cruz. In the final start of his third season, Greene struck out three and walked three.
Chicago finished 83-79 for a second consecutive year and missed the playoffs for a fourth straight season. The Reds also missed the postseason for a fourth consecutive year.
–Field Level Media
