The Cubs entered the 9th inning Friday night with a one-run lead and a chance for a doubleheader sweep of the Reds. Unfortunately, several missed scoring opportunities came back to haunt Chicago and the home team rallied to hand them a painful walk-off loss.
Reds rookie starter Lyon Richardson walked the bases loaded with one out in the top of the 1st inning but two consecutive strikeouts stranded the runners. The Cubs went with a bullpen game, using José Cuas as the opener, and held the Reds scoreless through three.
Cody Bellinger took Richardson deep in the top of the 3rd to give the North Siders a 1-0 advantage, but the Reds immediately responded with an RBI double by TJ Friedl off of Drew Smyly in the bottom of the frame.