Shota Imanaga struck out 10 across six innings as the Chicago Cubs completed a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with an 8-3 victory on Thursday for their 15th straight home win.
Unlike the first three games of the series, the Cubs did not need to walk it off. Instead, they used a seven-run fourth inning to turn it into a rout and hand the Reds their seventh straight loss. Chicago has won nine in a row.
Michael Conforto went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. He hit a double, and his second-inning solo home run off Reds starter Rhett Lowder (3-3) gave the Cubs the early lead. It was the veteran’s second homer of the series and season.
Lowder pitched into the fourth but was pulled after allowing back-to-back walks to Alex Bregman and Ian Happ to start the inning and throwing a ball in the dirt to Michael Busch. The right-hander went three-plus innings, allowing three runs on just one hit, but walked four.
The Reds announced Lowder left with right shoulder discomfort.
Reliever Connor Phillips walked Conforto with the bases loaded to double the Cubs’ advantage. He allowed an RBI single to Pete Crow-Armstrong, a two-run single to Miguel Amaya and a Nico Horner RBI double for 8-0.
Sal Stewart, who entered Thursday with just two hits in his last 28 at-bats (.071), hit his 10th homer off Imanaga (4-2) to lead off the sixth, cutting the Cubs’ lead to seven runs. The Reds then loaded the bases with just one out, but the Chicago starter responded to strike out Ke’Bryan Hayes and Dane Myers swinging to end the threat.
Imanga allowed six hits and walked three.
Blake Dunn lasered his first homer of the season to left field in the eighth off Gavin Hollowell. The right-hander also allowed JJ Bleday’s RBI double and loaded the bases in the ninth, forcing Daniel Palencia to come in to get Nathaniel Lowe looking for his second save.
The Reds outhit their hosts 9-7, with Hayes and Dunn both going 2-for-4, but they left a season-high 15 runners stranded.
The loss capped a catastrophic seven-game road trip for Cincinnati, which started the trip in first place in the National League Central and will end it in no better than a tie for last.
