For the second consecutive night, Starlin Castro drove home the game-winning run in walk-off fashion as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 in 11 innings Sunday night.
With Chirs Coghlan on second base after his one-out double, Castro lined a 1-1 sinker from Cincinnati's Burke Badenhop into the left-center-field gap and off the wall to bring Coghlan around with the winning run. Coghlan doubled to put himself into scoring position with a line drive down the left-field line that Kristphoer Negron just missed as he dove for the ball. The ball tipped off his glove and landed safely.
Castro's hit makes two straight walk-off wins in a row for him and the Cubs (video). On Saturday, Castro drove home Kris Bryant with the game winner in the bottom of the ninth after a 2:48 rain delay earlier in the evening.
On Sunday, the Reds took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth on Brandon Phillips's RBI bloop single, which scored Billy Hamilton from third. Hamilton led off the inning with a double. He then took advantage of Jon Lester's inhibitions about throwing to bases and stole third with ease.
Hamilton stole two bases off Lester in the third after a two-out single. He stole both second and third again in the 10th, giving himself five in one game and 100 on his young career. Each time, though, the Reds left him stranded at third.
The Cubs tied the score in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Dexter Fowler, which scored David Ross, who doubled to open the inning. Neither team scored again untli Castro came up in the 11th.
Aside from his trouble with Hamilton on the bases, Lester pitched exceptionally well, lasting seven innings while allowing five hits, two of them to Hamilton. He walked no one and struck out four, keeping his pitch count to 96. Brian Schlitter (W: 1-2, 7.36 ERA) got the last two outs in the top of the 11th to pick up the win. He returned from Triple-A Sunday afternoon. Jason Motte loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth but got the next three Reds hitters to get out of a tough jam.
Badenhop (L: 0-2, 6.55) allowed just the one earned run on two hits and one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings. Starter Anthony DeSclafini matched Lester closely. In 6 1/3 innings, he allowed one run on six hits while walking two and fanning five. He allowed Ross's double before coming out of the game with one out in the seventh.
On Monday, all Major League teams begin four-game home-and-home Interleague series with two in each team's ballpark. The Cubs host the Cleveland Indians Monday and Tuesday and switch fields with them Wednesday and Thursday. Cincinnati starts in Detroit Monday and ends it at home Thursday.