By Hal McCoy
When Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele stands on the Great American Ball Park mound, he must feel as if he is facing The Big Red Machine.
When the Cincinnati Reds scored five runs against him Tuesday night in two innings, he was en route to an 0-and-4 career record in GABP.
That, though, is all the Reds would score until they scored one in the eighth and it was enough to post a 6-3 victory.
The Reds are feasting on the Cubs, winners in seven of nine this season, and they have clinched this series. The Cubs are helpless against the National League Central, a 13 and 25 record.
The Reds are 14-14, thanks to those seven wins against the Cubs.
It was a career night for Cincinnati’s part-time infielder Santiago Espinal. Posing as the designated hitter and batting ninth, Espinal went a career-best 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and a single.
Espinal, clearly the hottest hitter on the roster, extended his hitting streak to 10 games in the second inning when he punched a two-run GABP-type home run, 341 feet just inside the foul pole in right field.
Known for his glue glove, Espinal is capable of hot streaks. He once put together a 16-game hitting streak with Toronto.
He led the fourth with a double and reached third but didn’t score. He beat an infield single in the fifth, but didn’t score.
Then he doubled, just missing a second home run, leading off the eighth and scored a big insurance run on Spencer Steer’s two-out double.
Tyler Stephenson helped out with three hits. He singled on the first pitch he saw from Steele in the first and scored a run. He singled again on the first pitch from Steele in the second, driving in a run.
And the return to the lineup of TJ Friedl has proved beneficial to the Reds. His single in the first scored two and gave the Reds a 2-0 lead. He added a walk and another single to the Reds’ 12-hit attack.
Frankie Montas was the scheduled starter, but when he was shipped off to Milwaukee, manager
David Bell made it another Bullpen Night.
Tony Santillan started and pitched a scoreless first, Nick Martinez, he of the dancing feet, followed with four scoreless four-hit innings, protecting the 5-0 lead.
Then it got shaky.
Lyon Richardson, just called up from Triple-A Louisville started the sixth and gave up a leadoff single to Seiya Suzuki. Cody Bellenger, just off the injured list had one homer in his last 30 games.
Now he has two in 31 games, a drive just over the right field wall, cutting the Reds lead to 5-2.
Justin Wilson was on the mound to start the seventh and issued a walk. With two outs, Fernando Cruz, much-troubled lately, replaced him.
He walked Suzuki on four pitches and gave up a single to Bellinger to load the bases.
That brought up Isaac Paredes, playing his first game with the Cubs after he was obtained via trade from Tampa Bay. Cruz threw a wild pitch to score a run and it was 5-3.
But with runners on third and second, Cruz retired Paredes on a soft liner to shortstop Elly De La Cruz.
Buck Farmer pitched a 1-2-3 eighth with a pair of strikeouts. Closer Alexis Diaz walked pinch-hitter Mike Tauchman on four p;itches to open the ninth, then retired the next three for his 22nd save.
There was much talk that Martinez might be traded before the deadline but the Reds dealt relief pitcher Lucas Sims to the Boston Red Sox instead. So Martinez was still around to get credit for Tuesday’s win, pushing his record to 5-5.
Steele, 16-5 last season and a top five finisher in the Cy Young voting, looked as if he realized that GABP is his personal haunted house.
He started this game by walking Jonathan India and Stephenson singled with two outs. Jeimer Candelario walked on a full count to load the bases and Friedl drove a two-run single up the middle.
Noelvi Marte drew a leadoff walk to start the second and stole second. Espinal then cracked his two-run home run. Indian, 1 for 18, doubled.
After De La Cruz and Steer both struck out, Stephenson singled home India for the 5-0 lead.
Steele stayed in and pitched three scoreless innings, but left after five, charged with five runs, six hits and four walks.
Just three starts ago, Steele held the potent Baltimore Orioles to no runs and three hits over seven innings, but Camden Yards is not Great American Ball Park.
Reds trade Frankie Montas and Lucas Sims.
Cubs trade Mark Leiter Jr.
Something else to think about, the Reds have not won a single home playoff game since the opening of Great American Ballpark. Quite simply the Reds don’t play winning baseball, and it’s all embarrassing.