Pinch-hitter Julio Borbon singled home the winning run with two outs in the 14th inning and the Chicago Cubs beat Cincinnati 6-5 on Thursday to end the Reds’ record 12-game winning streak at Wrigley Field. The Cubs hadn’t beaten Cincinnati at home since last Aug. 9. With the win, Chicago avoided a four-game sweep and improved to 3-10 against the Reds this season.
Hector Rondon (1-0) pitched two innings for the win and Chicago’s bullpen finished with eight scoreless innings. Davis DeJesus homered and Nate Schierholtz became the first player this season to hit two triples in a game for the Cubs, who had lost eight of 10 to fall a season-high 13 games below .500. They scored at least five runs for the first time since June 5.
Jonathan Broxton (2-2) took the loss in the longest game for both teams this season. The previous record for consecutive victories by a visitor at Wrigley Field was 10, by the St. Louis Cardinals (1943-44) and matched by the New York Giants (1950-51) and Montreal Expos (1982-83), according to STATS. Starlin Castro led off the 14th with a single against Broxton and stole second when Anthony Rizzo struck out. Castro went to third on Alfonso Soriano’s groundout to first base, and Schierholtz was intentionally walked before Borbon came through.
Mat Latos was trying to win his seventh straight decision to start the season for Cincinnati. He allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings.
Latos has won his last 10 regular-season decisions since losing to the Cardinals on Aug. 24, and the Cincinnati bullpen has blown saves in five of his games this season. Jeff Samardzija pitched six innings, allowing five runs and a season-high 10 hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out six. Since beating the White Sox with a two-hitter on May 27, Samardzija is winless in three starts.
Chicago tied the score at 5 in the eighth Darwin Barney’s two-out single off Sam LeCure. Cincinnati scored twice in the second on RBI singles by Devin Mesoraco and Shin-Soo Choo and added two in the fifth on run-scoring singles by Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. Jay Bruce had four hits for the Reds. Choo reached base three times and scored twice.
Castro went 3 for 7 after entering in a 4-for-48 slump. He was back in the second spot in the lineup after dropping to seventh last week and hitting sixth on Wednesday. Castro also made two errors at shortstop.
Zack Cozart reached on Castro’s second error leading off the 14th and advanced to third on Bruce’s two-out single. Rondon struck out Derrick Robinson to end the threat, Cincinnati’s first in extra innings.
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(Photo: Associated Press)