CINCINNATI (AP) — Noelvi Marte’ s two-out single in the ninth drove in the winning run as the Cincinnati Reds rallied for a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs and a split of the Friday doubleheader between the playoff contenders.

Nick Martini homered off Cubs closer Adbert Alzolay (2-5) with one out in the ninth to tie the game. Christian Encarnacion-Strand followed with a single. Pinch-runner Stuart Fairchild stole second, went to third on an errant throw by catcher Yan Gomes and then scored easily on Marte’s sharp hit up the middle.

Chicago won the first game 6-2 with Cody Bellinger driving in three runs and rookie right-hander Jordan Wicks turning in another quality start.

The Cubs began the late game in second place in the NL Central behind Milwaukee and holding onto the second NL wild card. The Reds were in third place in the division and battling the Giants, Diamondbacks and Marlins for the third and final wild-card slot.

Bellinger, as he did in the first game, opened the scoring for the Cubs with a homer in the night cap, a two-out shot in the third inning.

The Reds tied it in the bottom half with an RBI double by TJ Friedl, but Ian Happ’s two-out base hit in the fifth gave the Cubs the lead until Cincinnati’s ninth-inning heroics.

Both teams had to get creative with their pitching to manage the doubleheader, which was made necessary by a rainout at Cincinnati in April.

The Cubs started right-hander José Cuas, who was reinstated from the bereavement list before the second game, but manager David Ross went to lefty Drew Smyly after Cuas had retired two of the first three Reds hitters in the first inning.

The Reds, whose starting pitchers have been struggling for weeks, promoted Lyon Richardson from Triple-A Louisville to start the late game.

The 23-year-old right-hander, making his third major league start, walked the bases full in the first inning but wriggled out of it by striking out Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki. He gave up the first two Cubs runs before exiting with one out in the fifth.

Reds closer Alexis Diaz (7-4) picked up the win by pitching a scoreless ninth.

In the first game, Bellinger had a solo homer in the fourth and drove in two more with a base hit in the sixth inning. Seiya Suzuki’s solo homer in the eighth and Ian Happ’s two-run shot in the ninth gave Chicago breathing room.

Wicks (2-0) allowed five hits through five innings with three strikeouts and three walks. That came after a solid major league debut last Saturday when he allowed a run and two hits through five while striking out nine in a 10-6 win over the Pirates.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: RHP Hunter Greene was placed on the COVID-19 injured list for at least seven days. Starting pitcher Ben Lively and reliever Fernando Cruz also were put on the list. … OF Jake Fraley was activated after opting to delay surgery on a broken toe until after the season. He had three hits in the late game. … LHP Nick Lodolo (tibia) will miss the rest of the season, but won’t require surgery. The team had hoped he could return this season. … RHP Justin Dunn will have shoulder surgery.

CUBS MOVES

Chicago brought up RHP Shane Greene and OF Alexander Canario from Triple-A Iowa.

UP NEXT

Cubs right-hander Javier Assad (3-2) faces Reds lefty Andrew Abbott (8-4) as the four-game series continues Saturday night.

Second Game

Reds 3, Cubs 2

Chicago						Cincinnati
	ab	r	h	bi			ab	r	h	bi
Tauchman cf	3	0	0	0		Fraley dh	4	1	3	0
Hoerner 2b	2	1	0	0		Bader pr-dh	0	0	0	0
Happ lf	4	0	1	1		Friedl cf	3	0	1	1
Bellinger 1b	3	1	2	1		Stephenson c	0	0	0	0
Swanson ss	4	0	0	0		Steer 2b	4	0	0	0
Suzuki rf	4	0	1	0		De La Cruz ss	4	0	0	0
Candelario 3b	2	0	0	0		Martini lf	4	1	1	1
Gomes c	4	0	0	0		Encrncn-Strnd 1b	4	0	2	0
Morel dh	3	0	1	0		Fairchild pr	0	1	0	0
Madrigal ph-dh	1	0	0	0		Benson rf-cf	2	0	0	0
						Marte 3b	4	0	1	1
						Maile c	2	0	0	0
						Renfroe ph-rf	1	0	0	0
Totals	30	2	5	2		Totals	32	3	8	3

Chicago	001	010	000	—	2
Cincinnati	001	000	002	—	3

E–Gomes (6). DP–Chicago 0, Cincinnati 1. LOB–Chicago 7, Cincinnati 6. 2B–Suzuki (23), Fraley 2 (16), Friedl (20). HR–Bellinger (22), Martini (3). SB–Hoerner (35), Happ (12). S–Friedl (7).

	IP		H	R	ER	BB	SO

Chicago
Cuas		2-3	1	0	0	0	1
Smyly	3		3	1	1	1	4
Wesneski	3	1-3	0	0	0	1	6
Leiter Jr. H,27	1		1	0	0	0	1
Alzolay L,2-5 BS,22-25		2-3	3	2	2	0	2

Cincinnati
Richardson	4	2-3	2	2	2	5	4
Moll		1-3	1	0	0	0	1
Farmer	1		0	0	0	1	0
Gibaut	2		1	0	0	0	2
Díaz W,7-4	1		1	0	0	0	1

Smyly pitched to 3 batters in the 4th.

WP–Smyly.

Umpires–Home, Erich Bacchus; First, Laz Diaz; Second, Mike Estabrook; Third, John Bacon.

T–2:52. A–27,465 (43,891).

First Game

Cubs 6, Reds 2

Chicago						Cincinnati
	ab	r	h	bi			ab	r	h	bi
Tauchman cf	5	1	1	0		Bader cf	3	0	0	0
Hoerner 2b	5	1	2	0		Duarte p-p	0	0	0	0
Happ lf	3	2	2	2		Fraley ph	1	0	0	0
Bellinger 1b	5	1	2	3		Law p	0	0	0	0
Swanson ss	4	0	1	0		Benson ph	1	0	1	1
Suzuki rf	4	1	1	1		Steer 2b	4	0	2	0
Morel dh	2	0	0	0		De La Cruz ss	3	0	0	0
Candelario ph-dh	2	0	0	0		Renfroe rf	4	0	0	0
Amaya c	3	0	0	0		Encrncn-St 1b-3b	4	0	0	0
Madrigal 3b	3	0	1	0		Senzel 3b	2	1	1	0
						Martini ph-1b	1	0	0	0
						Stephenson c	3	0	1	0
						Marte dh-3b	3	1	2	1
						Fairchild lf	2	0	0	0
						Friedl ph-cf	1	0	0	0
Totals	36	6	10	6		Totals	32	2	7	2

Chicago	000	102	012	—	6
Cincinnati	000	100	001	—	2

DP–Chicago 1, Cincinnati 1. LOB–Chicago 9, Cincinnati 10. 2B–Happ (28). HR–Bellinger (21), Suzuki (14), Happ (17). SB–De La Cruz (24), Bellinger (19). S–De La Cruz (1).

	IP		H	R	ER	BB	SO

Chicago
Wicks W,2-0	5		5	1	1	3	3
Palencia H,1	1		0	0	0	0	0
Merryweather H,16	1		0	0	0	1	0
Thompson S,1-1	2		2	1	1	0	2

Cincinnati
Ashcraft L,7-9	5		6	3	3	1	6
Sims	1		1	0	0	1	2
Duarte	1	2-3	1	1	1	3	0
Law	1	1-3	2	2	2	1	0

Ashcraft pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

HBP–Merryweather (Friedl), Thompson (Martini). WP–Wicks, Merryweather.

Umpires–Home, Andy Fletcher; First, John Bacon; Second, Laz Diaz; Third, Mike Estabrook.

T–2:45. A–21,480 (43,891).