The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds endured a rain delay of nearly three hours, and Starlin Castro made it all worthwhile for the Cubs and their fans with a walk-off single that scored Kris Bryant with the game-winning run as the Cubs won 4-3. Castro lined a 1-0 fastball from Tony Cingrani into center field, and Bryant, who had doubled to lead off the inning, scored as the throw home was off line.
Bryant led off with a line drive that looked like a routine single. However, his hustle out of the box gave him the boost he needed to stretch it into a double on a close play at second (video). Cingrani then hit Miguel Montero to bring Castro to the plate.
The Cubs took an early 2-0 lead in the second on Montero's two-run home run (9) that scored Bryant ahead of him. Joey Votto's no-doubt opposite-field home run in the fourth (14) put the Reds on the board (video).
Chicago then got their two-run lead back in the bottom of the fourth on Castro's RBI fielder's choice. On that play, umpires ruled Bryant out at the plate, but Cubs manager Joe Maddon challenged the call and won. Replays show Bryant getting his foot in just ahead of the tag.
Maddon later won another challenge, and Reds manager Bryan Price won a challenge of his own. Both pays involved a ground ball from Cubs left fielder Chris Coghlan and Votto. In the fifth, Coghlan was ruled safe when Votto flipped the ball to Mike Leake, but Price's challenge overturned the call. In the eighth, Coghlan picked up an infield single when Maddon challenged that Votto was off the bag. Neither play proved vital.
The skies opened up, and the rain delay started at the end of the fifth, lasting nearly three hours. Once the game resumed in the sixth, Cincinnati tied the score when Eugenio Suarez took James Russell into the left-field bleachers with a man on (video). Neither team scored again until Castro came up in the ninth.
Jason Motte (W: 3-1, 3.47 ERA) pitched the top of the ninth for the win. He struck out the first two, gave up two singles, and got out of the jam on a groundout. Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks pitched five innings before the rain delay. He allowed one run (Votto's home run) on four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. Three other relievers took the mound for an inning each between Russell and Motte.
Cingrani (L: 0-3, 3.47) got nobody out in the bottom of the ninth. He allowed two hits, one run, and one hit batsman. Reds starter Leake pitched five innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits, including Montero's home run, with one strikeout.
The Cubs have won two of three so far, and the series concludes Sunday night at 8:05 p.m. EDT. Cincinnati will send Anthony DeSclafini (5-4, 3.53) to the mound, and the Cubs will counter with Jon Lester (4-5, 4.25).