Cincinnati Reds vs Chicago Cubs Box Score on Oct 01, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 1, 2017

CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon substituted liberally in the Sunday's regular season finale while Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto made a last-ditch bid for a National League batting title in a 3-1 Cincinnati Reds victory at Wrigley Field.

Votto went 2-for-4 to close with a .320 average, falling short of the batting crown as Rockies first baseman Charlie Blackmon went 1-for-2 against the Dodgers to unofficially close at .331.

Reds starter Deck McGuire (1-1) earned his first big league win in his sixth appearance and second start.

Cubs right-hander John Lackey entered in relief of starter Mike Montgomery in the fourth inning and took the loss, giving up one run in a one-inning appearance. He slipped to 12-12.

Twenty different players entered Sunday's game for the National League Central champions-- including five different pitchers.

The Cubs threatened to break a scoreless tie in the third as Javier Baez collected their first hit with a one-out single to deep left-center. He reached third base on Montgomery's infielder grounder thanks, in part, to two errors by third baseman Eugenio Suarez.

Taylor Davis, who replaced first baseman Anthony RIzzo in the second inning, popped out to second while Kris Bryant flied to center to end the threat.

Substitutions continued in the fourth inning as Montgomery departed after allowing one hit and striking out two over three innings.

Next up was Lackey, who gave up a one-out double to right to Votto that led to a Reds' run.

Adam Duvall, who went 2-for-4, sliced a double to center on a 2-2 pitch to bring home Votto for a 1-0 lead.

Lackey worked one inning, allowing one run on two hits while striking out one.

He was followed by left-hander Rob Zastryzny in the fifth as the Reds opened a 2-0 lead as Phillip Ervin led off with a single, reached third on Tucker Barnhart's double to left and scored on McGuire's ground out to short.

Zastryzny also gave up a one-out single to Scooter Gennett in the sixth, scoring Duvall for a 3-0 lead.

McGuire worked five innings, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out a pair. He was replaced by right-hander Luke Farrell, who worked one scoreless inning.

Albert Almora Jr. broke the shut out with a ninth inning solo home run to center off Raisel Iglesias, his 19th of the season. Iglesias earned his 28th save.

NOTES: Reds RHP Bronson Arroyo said on Sunday that he'll wrap up a 16-season big league career. Arroyo, on the disabled since June 19 with a shoulder injury, was 148-137 with a 4.28 ERA in 419 big league games. ... Cincinnati manager Bryan Price made a pitch on Sunday for 1B Joey Votto as NL Most Valuable Player. Votto entered Sunday with a .319 average and appeared in all 162 games. ... The Reds had players on the disabled list 26 times in 2017, including three times by Devin Mesoraco, played separate by hip, shoulder and foot ailments. ... Cubs 3B Kris Bryant played in his 151st game of the season on Sunday and is the first in Cubs history to make at least 150 starts in his first three seasons. ... The Cubs scored more than 800 runs for the second straight season, closing with 822. ... The Cubs are the first defending World Series champion to make the playoffs the next season since the 2012 Cardinals landed a wild card berth. ... The Cubs drew 3,199,562 fans during the 81-game regular season, the fourth-highest in team history.