The Chicago Cubs finally ended their lengthy home scoreless streak, but might have a tough time generating more offense against a pitcher who's had their number there.
Bronson Arroyo will attempt to win his sixth straight decision at Wrigley Field and lead the Cincinnati Reds to their 15th victory in 16 games there Wednesday.
Brandon Phillips had three hits and Shin-Soo Choo hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the 11th inning as the Reds (67-52) continued their dominance over the Cubs with a 6-4 victory Tuesday. They've won 21 of 25 overall versus Chicago (52-67).
Nate Schierholtz, Dioner Navarro and Donnie Murphy homered as the Cubs snapped a franchise-record home scoreless stretch at 33 innings.
Still, they've totaled 10 runs and hit .152 with runners in scoring position while dropping six straight home games. Schierholtz (5 for 38) and Starlin Castro (5 for 39) are among those scuffling at home.
The Cubs haven't lost seven in a row at Wrigley since an eight-game skid from Aug. 6-20, 2010. They'll try to avoid that mark as they face Arroyo (10-9, 3.51 ERA), who looks to lead the Reds to their seventh win in eight games overall.
The right-hander hopes to build on an outstanding performance in his last start, when he allowed one run and four hits over seven innings in a 7-2 win over San Diego on Friday. He matched a season high with seven strikeouts after posting a 10.00 ERA over his previous two outings.
"You just keep going out and preparing yourself," Arroyo said. "You might dissect your preparations after two or three starts to try and pinpoint why you might not have been prepared. If it keeps up, you start thinking you're on the down side of the mountain."
It's been a serious uphill climb at Wrigley Field for the Cubs against Arroyo. He's gone 5-0 with a 2.53 ERA over his last seven starts there, with the Cubs hitting .205 against him.
He also seeks his fourth straight win versus Chicago overall after giving up three runs over six innings in a 7-4 home win on May 24.
David DeJesus (4 for 22), Darwin Barney (2 for 17) and Navarro (1 for 7) haven't been able to figure out Arroyo.
The Cubs haven't done much lately at the plate for Chris Rusin (2-1, 3.08), who has received a total of nine runs in his last four starts.
Rusin yielded four runs over five innings in a 6-4 loss to the Dodgers in his only start at Wrigley on Aug. 1, but he's coming off a strong effort in St. Louis on Friday. He had a season-high five strikeouts and allowed seven hits over six innings in a 3-0 victory.
"His ball can move so much, he gets some swings and misses at balls quite a way out of the zone," manager Dale Sveum said. "He makes the ball move and keeps the ball down."
The left-hander, however, was knocked around in his only start against the Reds, yielding five runs and 10 hits over five innings in a 6-5, 11-inning home loss Sept. 19, 2012.
Joey Votto went 2 for 3 with a double against Rusin in that contest and is batting .367 in his last 14 games. Phillips is batting .333 with 12 RBIs during a seven-game hitting streak at Wrigley.
