Bronson Arroyo struggled through six innings but home runs by Joey Votto, Ryan Hanigan and Brandon Phillips paced the Reds to a 7-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.
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Arroyo didn't feel right all night. He allowed a home run to opposing pitcher Scott Feldman- the first of his career to put the Cubs up 3-0 in the second inning.
"It was a 3-2 breaking ball right down the middle," Arroyo said. "The scouting report said he was a jerker. I didn't want to get to the top of the order so I put it right down the middle. I got burned. I thought I was going to get out of the inning."
The Cubs three-run inning snapped Arroyo's scoreless streak at 15-1/3 innings. The Reds hitters picked him up.
Joey Votto extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an opposite field home run, his eighth, off Feldman one out into the Reds' fourth inning. Brandon Phillips singled to extend his own hitting streak to 11 games. Todd Frazier walked. Xavier Paul singled to drive Phillips home. Feldman fell behing Ryan Hanigan 3-0 with two outs and Arroyo due up. Chicago manager Dale Sveum decided to pitch to Hanigan.
Hanigan responded with his second three-run home run in a week to give Arroyo a 5-3 lead to work with.
Hanigan was hitting .079 when he went on the disabled list with a strained oblique and a very sore thumb that didn't allow him to grip the bat. Since his return he has a hit in six of his eight starts (8-for-27) for a .296 average.
"I don't want to make excuses for the slow start," Hanigan said. "It does feel good that my thumb is better. I have my strength back."
The catcher was a little surprised the Cubs pitched to him when they were behind in the count.
"I was a little surprised," Hanigan said. "In that part of the game, I don't think we would use a pinch hitter."
The Reds' bullpen of Logan Ondrusek, Jonathan Broxton and Aroldis Chapman finished the game. Broxton surrendered a run in the eighth as the Cubs closed to within a run at 5-4.
The dynamic duo of Votto and Phillips provided the final margin of victory. Votto, the "Dark Knight", who has chosen The Rolling Stones' "Fade to Black" as his introduction song, singled to start the ninth inning. Phillips, who leads the National League in RBI with 42 hit a long home run, his eighth off Hector Rondon to give Chapman some breathing room.
The "Cuban Missile" saved his 11th game of the season and Arroyo improved to 5-4 on the season.
Chapman allowed a single and a walk but struck out David DeJesus, Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano to seal the victory.
Votto is the NL's leading hitter with a .361 average, He took over the league lead in runs scored with 40. He has 20 multi-hit games, tied for tops in the league. He leads with 65 hits, a .484 on-base-percentage and is second with 101 total bases.
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