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Jay Bruce hit a two-run home run off a left-handed pitcher for the third day in a row to jump start the Reds to a 4-2 win, its third in a row.
Moving back to his normal position in rightfield, Bruce blasted his 10th home run of the season off former teammate, Travis Wood, who is left-handed.
The blow staked the Reds to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning.
'With Johnny on the mound, you know he's going to throw a good game. It's big to get some runs early. The home run helped us win and that's all I care about," said Bruce, who is starting the second game at firstbase.
Billy Hamilton bunted for a single and stole his 36th base of the season. He easily scored on Brandon Phillips, one-out hit. Bruce followed on the next pitch with a 428 ft. blast.
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With Reds' ace and All-Star pitcher on the mound, the Reds were in an enviable position.
Reds' fans barely squirmed when the Cubs loaded the bases against "Johnny Beisbol in the third on a walk, a hit batter and allowed a single to Ryan Sweeney. Bruce made catcher John Baker stop at third with a perfect throw to the plate. Cueto got slugger Anthony Rizzo to ground out to quell the threat.
Cueto retired the next six hitters in order but Chris Coughlin led off the sixth with his third home run. Ryan Sweeney followed with his first of the year and cut the Reds' lead to 3-2.
Cueto entered the game with a 1.15 ERA in day games.
"I didn't even know about that until Bryan Price told me," Cueto said. "I don't think about those things."
The Reds wasted little time in getting one of the runs back.
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Chris Heisey singled for the second time in the game. He stole second and advanced to third when the throw was kicked into leftfield. Ramon Santiago delivered Heisey with the Reds' fourth run of the game. Heisey finished 3-for-3 with a walk in four trips to the plate.
Cueto got the first batter in the seventh but short singles by Baker, Darwin Barney and pinch hitter Justin Ruggiano loaded the bases.
Manager Bryan Price went to left-hander Manny Parra, who saw very little action with the Reds' starters pitching deep into games. Parra came on to face two left-handed hitters in Coughlin and Sweeney. Parra struck out Coughlin, the first batter he retired since June 19. Parra walked the only batter he faced on June 20. in his last appearance on July 1 in San Diego, he threw one pitch and the runner he inherited was caught stealing. Parra retired Sweeney on a ro utine ground ball to Phillips to end the inning.
"We used Manny a lot the first two months of the season," Price said. "We needed to give him a little break. The starting pitching has pitched so well it is hard to get these guys regular work now."
Parra hadn't been out on the mound in so long, he didn't know what to expect.
"Until I got out there, I didn't know anything," Parra said. "Coughlin has been hot lately but I was able to execute my pitches. Sweeney has hit me well in the past but I put the fastball where I wanted to. I've been throwing all along but I don't think I've ever gone this long without pitching. Our starting pitching has been phenomenal. I'm not going to complain about some time off."
Jumbo Diaz struck out two in his inning in relief of Parra.
Aroldis Chapman, who quickly recovered from a sore hamstring, allowed a single to pinch hitter Junior Lake to start the ninth but struck out two for his 18th save. It was the 37th straight game in which Chapman struck out at least one batter.
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