Cincinnati Reds Recap: Mike Leake Shines in 9-1 Win Over Cubs

9. 61. . 1. 9

W: Mike Leake (8-5)

L: Kyle Hendricks (4-5)

If this was Mike Leake‘s last start in a Cincinnati Reds uniform, he made sure to go out with a bang. The right-hander tossed eight innings of one-run baseball and got plenty of help from his offense in a 9-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Leake got off to a so-so start in the game, allowing his only run and four hits through the first four innings. Kyle Schwarber got the Cubs on the board in the third with an RBI single, but that was the last baserunner Leake would allow. He set down the final 16 batters he faced, exiting after 111 pitches and eight innings. He didn’t issue a single walk and struck out six on the afternoon.

July has been a great month for Leake, as he now has a 3-1 record on the month with a 1.61 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in four starts.

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Leake was backed up with nine runs from the Reds offense, who didn’t waste any time getting to Cubs’ starter Kyle Hendricks. The first five hitters of the ballgame reached base and four of them scored on two-run doubles from Todd Frazier and Eugenio Suarez.

The bats weren’t done, though, as Joey Votto hit his 17th home run of the season to make it a 5-1 game in the fifth before the floodgates opened in the seventh against the Cubs’ bullpen.

Yoervis Medina replaced Hendricks and retired the first two batters in the seventh, but then allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases. Skip Schumaker drew a bases-loaded walk to score one run and Billy Hamilton brought home two more with a line-drive single up the middle. For good measure, next batter Tucker Barnhart brought home one more with another single up the middle to make it 9-1.

From there, Leake threw one more inning before being relieved by Burke Badenhop in the ninth. Badenhop gave up a single and two walks, but was able to escape the jam and close out the game without giving up a run.

Other Notes:

Every non-pitcher in the Reds lineup had at least one hit in the game. Votto, Frazier and Barnhart all had multi-hit games.
Votto continued his hot streak with a 3-for-4 effort. Over his last five games, Votto has three three-hit games and is hitting .500 (12-for-24) since the All-Star break.
Frazier also had three hits (including his 27th and 28th doubles of the year) in the game as he continues to work his way out of a slump at the plate. He’s 6-for-12 so far in the series against the Cubs.

Up Next: Let’s play two! The Reds will take the field again at 6:10 p.m EST with Tony Cingrani toeing the rubber to make his first big league start since June 9 of last season. He’ll be opposed by Dallas Beeler.

Next: The latest Mike Leake trade rumors

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