Seiya Suzuki hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the eighth inning, Reese McGuire homered twice in his Chicago debut, and the visiting Cubs scored eight unanswered runs to pull out an 11-8 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the rubber match of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
Suzuki, who also doubled, finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored and moved into the National League RBI lead with 49.
Pete Crow-Armstrong had two hits and two RBIs and Nico Hoerner had a two-run double and scored twice for Chicago, which won for the seventh time in nine games.
McGuire, who had his contract selected from Triple-A Iowa earlier Sunday when Miguel Amaya went on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain, got the start when backup catcher Carson Kelly was scratched with an illness. It was the first multi-homer game of McGuire’s career.
Drew Pomeranz (2-0) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief in the bottom of the seventh, and Daniel Palencia picked up his second save with a scoreless ninth.
Austin Hays went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and three RBIs for Cincinnati, while Jose Trevino doubled, singled and drove in two runs. Elly De La Cruz, TJ Friedl and Matt McLain each added two hits for Cincinnati. Taylor Rogers (1-2), who gave up three runs on two hits and a walk without retiring a batter, took the loss.
Chicago took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-run single by Crow-Armstrong, his eighth and ninth RBIs in the three-game series.
Cincinnati answered with four runs in the bottom of the first to grab a 4-2 advantage as Hays, Trevino and Will Benson each logged RBI singles. Trevino also scored on a wild pitch.
McGuire made it 4-3 in the second with a home run to right in his first at-bat as a Cub, a 372-drive just over the glove of Benson.
The Reds extended the lead to 8-3 in the fifth with four runs on five hits highlighted by a two-run triple into the left-field corner by Hays, an RBI double by Trevino and an run-scoring single by De La Cruz.
The Cubs made it 8-4 in the sixth when Hoerner, who had walked, scored on a wild pitch. Chicago narrowed the gap further with three runs in the seventh, with Hoerner delivering the big blow: a two-run double that one-hopped the wall in left-center.
McGuire then tied it at 8-8 as he led off the eighth against Rogers with a home run down the right-field line.
Ian Happ followed with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Kyle Tucker. Suzuki then blasted his 14th homer of the year to cap the comeback.
