Andrew Abbott was filthy on Friday afternoon in Chicago. The Reds lefty held the Cubs to one hit over seven shutout innings and the Cincinnati offense hit three home runs on their way to a 6-2 win at Wrigley Field to open up the 3-game series.
Final
R
H
E
Cincinnati Reds (29-29)
6
10
0
Chicago Cubs (35-22)
2
6
0
W: Abbott (5-0) L: Rea (3-2) SV: Pagan (14)
Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
Cincinnati wasted no time on Friday afternoon as TJ Friedl hit the third pitch of the game into the seats for a leadoff home run. Elly De La Cruz came through with a double later in the inning and scored on a Gavin Lux single to make it 2-0.
Andrew Abbott kept Chicago in line through the first three inning, giving up just one hit and striking out four batters. The offense helped him out again after that as Will Benson picked up a 1-out single and then Tyler Stephenson clubbed his 4th home run of the season, giving his team a 4-0 lead.
Two innings later the road team would get back at it and Will Benson once again started things off with a single. Jake Fraley, fresh off of the injured list, got a splitter up in the zone and he sent it flying to the seats in right-center for a 2-run home run to extend the Reds lead to 6-0.
Chicago continued to get nothing done offensively against Andrew Abbott. The lefty sent them back to the dugout in order in both the 6th and 7th innings. That’s where his day ended as he turned the game over to Tony Santillan for the start of the 8th inning having allowed just one hit and one walk – none since the 3rd inning.
The Cubs were celebrating the exit of Andrew Abbott and went to work against Santillan in the 8th. Nico Hoerner got a Chicago rally started with a 1-out double. Michael Busch then came off of the bench to pinch hit and he lined a triple into right-center to bring in the Cubs first run of the day. Matt Shaw followed up with an RBI single to make it 6-2. Santillan then walked Ian Happ and his day came to an end there as Cincinnati called Graham Ashcraft out of the bullpen to try and get out of the jam. He did just that, getting Kyle Tucker to ground into an inning-ending double play.
When the bottom of the 9th began it was Ashcraft back on the mound for the Reds looking to hold onto a 4-run lead. The inning began with a double by Seiya Suzuki. Pete Crow-Armstrong would pick up a 1-out double of his own, though his was on a blooper into shallow left field that could only move Suzuki up to third base as he had to wait and see if it would be caught or not.
With two men in scoring position the Reds made yet another pitching change, bringing in Emilio Pagan to try and close the game out. He would strike out Dansby Swanson for the inning’s second out and then get a routine grounder to shortstop to end the game and seal the Reds 6-2 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Writing Andrew Abbott’s name on the lineup card. He was brilliant once again and never let the Cubs think they were in the game.
Notes Worth Noting
Andrew Abbott lowered his ERA to 1.51 on the season through his nine starts. With just one walk and eight strikeouts on Friday Abbott now has 53 strikeouts and 18 walks in his 47.2 innings pitched this year.
TJ Friedl, Gavin Lux, and Will Benson all had 2-hit days. Friedl also walked twice and homered. He’s now hitting .306/.390/.431 on the season.
Cincinnati hit three home runs in this game. In their series against the Cubs last week they managed to hit just one home run.
Joel Luckhaupt noted that since 1901 only three pitchers have had eight starts of one run or fewer in their first nine games of the season. Andrew Abbott this season is one of those three pitchers.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Chicago Cubs
Saturday, May 31st, 2:20pm ET
Nick Lodolo (4-4, 3.39 ERA) vs TBA
