CINCINNATI (AP) — A ninth-inning rally tied it. The bullpen held Chicago’s high-powered offense without a hit for eight innings. All it did was set up another disappointing finish for the last-place Reds.

Kris Bryant singled home the tiebreaking run in the 15th inning, and the Cubs used three pitchers in left field while beating Cincinnati 7-2 on Tuesday night in the longest game of the season for both teams.

“There were a lot of instances that suggest things were going to go our way, but we weren’t able to get it done,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “That’s a tough one, a really tough one.”

With the Cubs out of position players, relievers Travis Wood and Spencer Patton (1-0) alternated between left field and the mound in the 14th inning, which ended with Patton getting the final out. Wood then finished it off with reliever Pedro Strop in left.

“When I went out there to do it originally, the infielders were kind of giggling,” said Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who had never done anything like it as a manager.

It worked perfectly as things started falling in place for the Cubs again.

Bryant’s only hit on Tuesday — a single off J.J. Hoover (1-2) — snapped the tie. Javier Baez added a grand slam in the 15th, the sixth career allowed by Hoover, which is a Reds record. Then it was just a matter of figuring out how to finish it off.

The National League’s top team went 1-6 last week but has pulled out of the downturn by winning the first two games of a series against the Reds. The Cubs hit five homers — three by Bryant — while taking the opener 11-8.

Eugenio Suarez singled home the tying run with two outs in the ninth off Hector Rondon, his third blown save in 16 chances, setting the game on its meandering course.

Maddon had talked to Wood about playing left field in such a circumstance. The reliever hadn’t played outfield since high school but takes fly balls during batting practice to stay ready. None of the Reds hit the ball to left field with a Cubs reliever out there, which was a disappointment for Wood.

Ben Zobrist led off the game with a homer off left-hander John Lamb. Left-hander Jon Lester singled home another run and allowed only one hit until the eighth inning, when Billy Hamilton homered. The Cubs’ closer couldn’t hold on.

And then the Reds’ bullpen let another one get away in the 15th, after holding the Cubs without a hit for the eight previous innings.

“Everybody understands where we’re trying to go, but the losing is miserable,” Price said. “Guys continue to play hard. The pitching took a step forward, but the losing stinks. There aren’t a whole lot of feel-good losses out there.”

A lot of the focus Tuesday was on Bryant, who was coming off a historic performance.

Bryant became the first major league player to hit three homers and two doubles in a game on Monday night. He set a Cubs record with 16 total bases and became the youngest Cubs player to hit three homers in a game since Ernie Banks did it in 1955, also at the age of 24.

Bryant broke his three-homer bat the first time up on Tuesday, cracking it on a groundout. The bat boy retrieved it and took it to the Major League Baseball authenticator, who labeled the bat and safely stored it. Bryant flied out, walked twice, fouled out with two runners aboard for the final out in the 10th, and struck out in the 13th before driving in the go-ahead run.

SO UNUSUAL

The last time a Cubs pitcher played the outfield was 2009 when Sean Marshall was in left.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: RHP Homer Bailey felt fine a day after throwing an inning in his first rehab start. Bailey, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery 13 months ago, is expected to pitch again on Saturday. … 2B Brandon Phillips fouled a ball off the inside of his left foot in the first inning. He fouled another pitch off the same foot in his next at-bat and got hit in the left side by a pitch from Rondon in the ninth.

UP NEXT

Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (5-6, 2.76) is 1-5 with a 3.79 ERA in seven road starts this season. He’s 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in seven home games.

Reds: Cody Reed (0-1, 6.75) makes his third career start. In his first appearance at Great American Ball Park last Friday, he gave up five runs in five innings of a 13-4 loss to the Padres.

———

Follow Joe Kay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apjoekay

Cubs 7, Reds 2

Chicago (NL) AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Heyward rf 6 0 1 0 1 3 .235

Bryant 3b 5 1 1 1 2 1 .277

Rizzo 1b 5 1 1 0 2 1 .286

Contreras lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .355

Almora cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .283

d-Coghlan ph-lf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .206

Peralta p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Patton p-lf-p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

g-Hammel ph 1 1 0 0 0 0 .257

Strop lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Baez ss 7 1 1 4 0 1 .256

Szczur cf-lf-cf 7 1 1 0 0 1 .276

Ross c 4 0 0 0 1 1 .235

Cahill p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200

T.Wood lf-p-lf-p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Lester p 3 0 1 1 0 2 .086

Rondon p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

c-Russell ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .235

Grimm p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Edwards p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

e-Montero ph-c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .192

Zobrist 2b 6 2 2 1 1 2 .296

Totals 54 7 9 7 7 13

 

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Cozart ss 5 0 1 0 1 2 .267

Votto 1b 6 0 0 0 0 0 .242

Phillips 2b 5 1 1 0 0 1 .252

Bruce rf 6 0 1 0 0 1 .275

Duvall lf 6 0 0 0 0 2 .249

Suarez 3b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .229

Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

f-Barnhart ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .247

B.Wood p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Hoover p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

h-Lorenzen ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Hamilton cf 6 1 1 1 0 1 .255

Cabrera c 6 0 1 0 0 2 .255

Lamb p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .067

a-Holt ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .230

Iglesias p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

b-Peraza ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .255

Cingrani p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

De Jesus 3b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .211

Totals 51 2 8 2 1 13

 

Chicago 100 010 000 000 005 = 7 9 1

Cincinnati 000 000 011 000 000 = 2 8 1

 

a-struck out for Lamb in the 6th. b-singled for Iglesias in the 8th. c-out on fielder’s choice for Rondon in the 10th. d-out on fielder’s choice for Almora in the 11th. e-grounded out for Edwards in the 12th. f-struck out for Smith in the 12th. g-out on fielder’s choice for Patton in the 15th. h-struck out for Hoover in the 15th.

E—Ross (6), Votto (6). LOB—Chicago 9, Cincinnati 7. 2B—Szczur (2), Zobrist (15). HR—Zobrist (10), off Lamb; Baez (7), off Hoover; Hamilton (3), off Lester. RBIs—Bryant (58), Baez 4 (25), Lester (3), Zobrist (42), Suarez (39), Hamilton (12). SB—Peraza (7).

Runners left in scoring position—Chicago 5 (Heyward, Bryant, Baez 2, Coghlan); Cincinnati 3 (Cozart, Hamilton, De Jesus). RISP—Chicago 3 for 11; Cincinnati 1 for 6.

Runners moved up—Contreras, Zobrist. LIDP—Votto. GIDP—Contreras, Hamilton.

DP—Chicago 2 (Baez, Rizzo), (Zobrist, Baez); Cincinnati 1 (Phillips, Cozart, Votto).

 

Chicago (NL) IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Lester 7 2-3 3 1 1 1 4 103 2.03

Rondon BS, 3-16 1 1-3 2 1 1 0 1 26 1.65

Grimm 1 0 0 0 0 2 15 5.86

Edwards 1 0 0 0 0 2 13 2.46

Cahill 1 1-3 2 0 0 0 2 17 2.65

T.Wood 1 1-3 1 0 0 0 2 22 2.23

Peralta 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 3 6.75

Patton W, 1-0 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 10 5.79

 

Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Lamb 6 6 2 2 1 7 102 4.60

Iglesias 2 0 0 0 1 4 28 3.24

Cingrani 1 2-3 0 0 0 2 0 24 3.57

Smith 2 1-3 0 0 0 1 1 29 2.08

B.Wood 2 0 0 0 0 1 28 3.29

Hoover L, 1-2 1 3 5 5 2 0 33 13.50

 

Inherited runners-scored—Rondon 1-0, Peralta 2-0, Smith 2-0. IBB—off Hoover (Rizzo). HBP—Lester (Suarez), Rondon (Phillips).

Umpires—Home, Mike Winters; First, Marty Foster; Second, Gabe Morales; Third, Mike Muchlinski.

T—4:43. A—35,999 (42,319).