By RICK GANO
AP Sports
Writer
CHICAGO
(AP) -- Jay Bruce's homer gave the Cincinnati Reds the
lead, while the bullpen and second baseman Brandon Phillips helped pull
off what manager Dusty Baker called "quite a few escape
acts."
The Reds foiled numerous opportunities by the
Chicago Cubs for a 5-4 victory Friday at breezy Wrigley Field, turning
three double plays.
"We got out of some very tough
situations," Baker said. "A win is a win."
And this
one was the third straight for the defending NL Central
champions.
After Chicago scored a run in the sixth to
pull close, reliever Sam LeCure, who's also started four games this
season, retired three straight with the bases loaded and no
outs.
In the ninth, closer Francisco Cordero caught a
line through the box by Darwin Barnet and doubled Kosuke Fukudome off
first to end the Cubs' final threat.
"We made it
tough on ourselves. I think we just tried to keep the crowd, the Reds
fans, on the edge of their seats," Phillips
joked.
Phillips made a nice play behind second and a
great behind-the-back flip to shortstop Edgar Renteria for a force out
in the third inning, caught Alfonso Soriano's sinking liner to start a
rally-busting double play in the fifth and also had an RBI
single.
"All I try to do is catch the ball and be the
pitcher's best friend. Try to make plays," said Phillips, the Reds'
Gold Glove second baseman.
Edinson Volquez (3-1) got
the win, laboring through numerous jams in five-plus innings. He allowed
six hits and four runs, walked four and threw a pair of wild
pitches.
"At the beginning of the game I thought it
was going to be a different game. But then in the fourth innning I
started losing my fastball command," Volquez
said.
Matt Garza (1-4), the Cubs' biggest offseason
acquisition, still has one win in his first seven starts and none in
four outings at Wrigley Field. He gave up six hits and five runs in six
innings.
"I felt like it was going to be a good day,"
Garza said. "They did a great job of just extending innings. In that
fourth inning (Joey) Votto puts his bat out there and hits the ball up
the middle. And then Phillips the same thing, just throws his hands out,
a seeing eye single through the right side. Just bear with it and go
with it."
Bruce's seventh homer of the season was a
high drive into the right-field bleachers with the wind blowing out and
gave the Reds the lead for good in the fourth at 3-1. It was the first
homer surrendered by Garza this season.
"Garza had
good stuff. For the most part he pitched well. He just made a few
mistakes and we had some good at-bats when we needed them," Bruce
said.
The Reds added on in the top of the fifth on
those two-out RBI singles by Votto and Phillips. Paul Janish started the
inning with a hustling double after his hard grounder went off
shortstop Starlin Castro's glove. With two outs and Janish at third,
Garza walked Renteria before Votto and Phillips delivered to make it
5-2.
Barney, Castro and Aramis Ramirez reached
Volquez for consecutive one-out singles to make it 5-3 in the bottom of
the fifth, but the inning fizzled when Phillips made a nice grab of
Soriano's sinking liner and flipped to Renteria to double off
Castro.
The play was close, but second base umpire
Jerry Layne called Castro out.
"Not sure we didn't
get a bad break there," Cubs manager Mike Quade
said.
"Tell you the truth, I think I got him, but I
heard how the crowd went crazy and they made it seem like I didn't,"
Phillips said. "The only thing I can really say is thank you to the
ump."
Geovany Soto greeted LeCure with an RBI single
in the sixth, cutting it to 5-4. LeCure then hit pinch-hitter Reed
Johnson to load the bases before striking out Fukudome, retiring Barney
on a popup and getting Castro on a bouncer to
short.
The Cubs also loaded the bases in fourth but
scored once on Soto's double-play grounder.
Garza was
0 for 25 in his career, including 0 for 14 this season, before
collecting his first major league hit in the second, a sharp single to
center that set up the Cubs' first run.
Fukudome then
grounded to first baseman Votto, whose throw to second was dropped by
Renteria for an error. Phillips then made his play behind second,
flagging down Barney's hopper and flipping the ball behind his back to
Renteria -- while still on the
ground.
NOTES: Bruce has
five homers in his last 10 games. ... Votto has reached base in all 32
of the Reds' games this season. ... Castro is 2 for 21 over his last
five games. He flied out to end the game.
