The Cubs did get the lefty pop you’d hope to see off of Reds righty Raisel Iglesias, but it came in the form of two solo homers. Otherwise, Iglesias dominated the Cubs.
Jason Hammel was not at his best, giving up a lot of hard contact. The bullpen was solid, even including Hector Rondon, who gave up the game-deciding three-run homer (because it came with a huge asterisk, as discussed below).
In the bottom of the 8th, Kris Bryant played hero with a two-run, game-tying homer. But the baseball gods are so fickle and cruel: in the top of the 9th, with two outs, Bryant committed an error on a grounder (which itself followed a swinging bunt single), which was immediately followed by a three-run Joey Votto homer. It was the most soul-crushingly “baseball” series of events I’ve seen in a while.
The Cubs put a couple on against Aroldis Chapman in the 9th, but couldn’t come through (including an appearance by Javy Baez, who, yes, swung himself off his feet at one point).
That game, man.