Cubs hang on to beat Reds

Wow.

The Cubs barely hang on to beat the Reds 8-7 after what should've been a blowout win for the Cubs turned into a nail-biting finish.

The Cubs got off to a great start after Wade Miley hit Kris Bryant to start the game and then walked Anthony Rizzo. Willson Contreras and Steven Souza Jr. hit back to back two out doubles to drive in runs and then David Bote followed up with a single to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead in the first.

They chased Miley after he allowed two more runs on an RBI double by Javier Baez and then a passed ball that would allow another run to score. The Cubs would add two more runs on a solo home run by Anthony Rizzo and an RBI double by David Bote.

Jon Lester was excellent in his season debut going five no hit innings walking one while striking out one as well. He induced a lot of weak contact and did a good job of keeping the ball in the zone throwing 50 of his 76 pitches for strikes.

The bullpen, however, was a different story.

Dan Winkler made his Cubs debut walking two batters and getting a strikeout. Rowan Wick came in to fix his mess, and although he did give up an RBI single he was able to limit the damage.

 

Duane Underwood Jr. came in for the seventh and gave up a home run to Tyler Stephenson (in his first MLB plate appearance) and then gave up a single and a walk before being pulled. Ryan Tepera came in and would get out of the jam after allowing a run by striking out Josh VanMeter.

Tepera would start the eight but after striking out the first two batters he was pulled after allowing a single. James Norwood would come in and like the others before him allowed a run before getting out of the jam.

And then Craig Kimbrel, the man with a 2.08 ERA and 346 games would come in for the ninth to protect an 8-5 lead.

He quickly got ahead of Nicholas Castellanos 0-2 before falling behind and walking him. He would get Jesse Winkler to ground out and then he completely lost it. He walked Josh VanMeter, Shogo Akiyama, hit Freddy Galvis to drive in a run, and then walked Tyler Stephenson to drive in yet another run. Next thing you know Kimbrel has thrown 13 of his 34 pitches for strikes and David Ross is on his way to the mound with the winning run in scoring position.

Jeremy Jeffress would come in and would strike out Philip Ervin on what would've been ball four and then got Joey Votto to line out to center to secure an unnecessarily nail-biting 8-7 victory.

Obviously Kimbrel is going to be the big discussion, but the entire bullpen is extremely concerning for the Cubs. They don't have the luxury of a 162 game season to allow guys to get comfortable in their role so any reliever will be on a much shorter leash than they would normally be.

The Cubs play the Reds again tomorrow at 5:40. Alec Mills will take the mound against Tyler Mahle.