Despite Six Homers Cubs Lose, Cardinals Beat Pirates

BY ESPN

CHICAGO -- Phillip Ervin may be a late-bloomer, but the Cincinnati outfielder has arrived in the majors with bang.

Ervin hit a two-run homer to snap a tie in the seventh inning and had four RBI in his first major league start as the Reds rebounded from blowing a nine-run lead to defeat the Chicago Cubs 13-10 on Thursday.

Ervin, in right field in his fifth game, also had a single and double in four at-bats. On Wednesday, the 25-year-old homered as a pinch hitter for his first hit.

"I have struggled through the minors a bit so to come up here just showing everybody I can play, it just feels good," said Ervin, who appeared in three games in April before his recall this week from Triple-A. "So I'm just trying to take it as it is and have fun right now."

Joey Votto lofted a three-run homer in a nine-run, second-inning rally as Cincinnati raced to a 9-0 lead against Cubs starter Jon Lester on a warm day with the wind blowing out.

Ian Happ hit two solo shots and a sacrifice fly, and Alex Avila went deep and had three RBI for the Cubs, who used six homers to erase a nine-run deficit for the first time since August 1989 versus Houston.

"A lot of times, that's a hard game to hold on to because you've lost so much momentum," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "We were able to hold the line a little bit and settle things down, and then Ervin hits the big homer to make it 11-9."

Drew Storen (4-2) pitched a scoreless sixth for the win, then Raisel Iglesiaspitched the ninth for his 22nd save in 23 chances. Justin Grimm (1-2), who gave up Erwin's homer and was the second of five Cubs relievers took the loss.

Happ, Avila, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez homered in the fourth as the Cubs went deep four times in an inning for the first time since June 2008 to cut it to 9-6.

Kyle Schwarber homered to lead off the fifth, then Anthony Rizzo and Avila drove in runs with doubles against Michael Lorenzen to tie it at 9.

The Reds sent 13 men to the plate in the second. Eugenio Suarez and Ervin each had a single and a double in the eight-hit outburst.

Lester was pulled with left lat tightness with two outs in the inning and saw a doctor after the game. Manager Joe Maddon didn't have a report on the lefty, but knew his velocity was down and that he lacked finishing pop on pitches.

"They had a lot of soft hits over over the infielders heads," Maddon said. "The cutter was down to 84-85 (mph). That's not quite right."

Lester was charged with nine runs, seven earned, and was replaced by Mike Montgomery after facing 11 batters in the inning and Cincinnati leading 8-0.

It was Cincinnati's biggest rally since scoring 10 runs in August 2015 versus Detroit.

Montgomery allowed no runs in 4 1/3 innings to set the stage for the Cubs' comeback.

"We had a chance to re-group and at that point we just started hitting," Montgomery said. "Our offense was unbelievable today. It was really just that one inning."

Bryant led off the fourth with a drive to left that bounced off the bleachers and onto Waveland Avenue. Avila's two-run homer was followed by consecutive solo shots from Happ and Baez off Reds starter Scott Feldman, who allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Cincinnati permitted four homers in an inning for the first time since September 2007 versus Milwaukee.

After Chicago tied it 9-all in the fifth, Ervin put the Reds back in front 11-9 in the seventh. Happ's sac fly in the bottom half made it 11-10.The Reds added insurance runs in the eighth and ninth.

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PITTSBURGH -- Cardinals center fielder Dexter Fowler had not felt fully healthy for quite a while. But nothing was ailing him when St. Louis faced Pittsburgh at PNC Park.

Fowler's two-run triple sparked the Cardinals to an 11-7 comeback win over the Pirates.

"(Fowler is) fitting into those spots in big situations," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He's coming up with those big hits that we keep talking about that are so pivotal to a team going on a good run."

With the Cardinals trailing 5-4 with one out in the seventh inning, Fowler tripled down the right field line off reliever Joaquin Benoit to give St. Louis a 6-5 lead.

Yadier Molina followed with an RBI single to make it 7-5 and chase Benoit (1-6), who allowed three runs on three hits in a third of an inning. Benoit has surrendered nine runs in six games for the Pirates since being acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies on July 31.

St. Louis added four more runs in the ninth inning before Pittsburgh answered with two in the bottom half.

Fowler went 2 for 3 with three RBI, scored three runs and walked twice in his 10th game since getting off the 10-day disabled list with a wrist injury.

"I feel healthy," Fowler said. "I was actually telling Chris Carpenter when I came back that this is actually the first time since we went into spring training that I feel like I'm healthy."

Righty Sam Tuivailala (3-1) pitched one scoreless inning for the win. He allowed three hits but escaped trouble withtwo strikeouts.

Pittsburgh left the bases loaded in the sixth inning and stranded runners on second and third in the seventh.

After trailing 5-1 at the end of the third inning, St. Louis rallied to avoid a fourth straight loss while Pittsburgh's losing streak reached five games. The Cardinals remain third in the National League Central, 1 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs.

Josh Harrison gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead with a two-run home run in the first inning. Three straight RBI singles in the third pushed the Pirates' lead to 5-1.

"Anytime you lose like that it's tough," Harrison said. "We're going to keep playing until the game's over. Nothing to hang our heads about. Just got to keep plugging."

The Cardinals came back with a run in the top of the second to make it 2-1 before scoring one more in the fourth and two in the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-4. Fowler singled in the fifth to drive in their fourth run.

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright lasted just three innings for the second time in his past three starts while allowing five runs on seven hits.

Matheny said Wainwright would likely be sent back to St. Louis on Friday to be evaluated. He came off the 10-day disabled list on Aug. 6 after recovering from back tightness.

"It's real disappointing because this time of year, what are we one game back? This is usually when I go," Wainwright said. "It's hard for me to look my guys in the face and tell them that I'm sorry and it wasn't as good as it needed to be."

Pirates left-hander Jameson Taillon was lifted after rain halted play following the fifth inning. He surrendered four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts in five innings.

"The weather looked like it was starting to get a little challenging to navigate," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "It seemed like the more he stayed out there in the rain, the more (Taillon's) execution seemed to tail off some."

The game resumed in the top of the sixth inning following a delay of one hour and 12 minutes.