Whenever the Cubs come to town [url=http://www.atlantafalconsteamonline.com/isaiah-oliver-jersey]Authentic Isaiah Oliver Jersey[/url] , their fans fill the stands at Great American Ball Park and their offense usually carries the day. Not so for the last two.

Eugenio Suarez hit a go-ahead homer off Jose Quintana in the fifth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds held on for their fifth straight victory Friday night, 6-3 over the Cubs .

The Reds have won the first two games in the four-game set, a recent rarity in the rivalry. It’s only the second time in the last two years that they’ve won back-to-back games in a series against Chicago. The Cubs are 43-21 against the Reds over the last four seasons.

Cincinnati’s winning streak is one shy of its season high. The Reds are last in the NL Central at 30-45.

”We’re playing really good baseball right now,” Suarez said . ”When you play like that, good things can happen.”

Suarez’s two-run shot in the fifth inning off Quintana (6-6) gave him a team-high 16 homers and put the Reds ahead 4-3. Billy Hamilton and Joey Votto also singled home runs off Quintana, who had allowed only six earned runs in his last four starts combined.

Quintana hung a changeup on his second pitch to Suarez, who has four homers in his last six games.

”I just missed my spot – a bad pitch,” Quintana said through a translator. ”A bad time to have that happen.”

Suarez also singled twice and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games, the longest by a Reds third baseman since Todd Frazier hit in 14 straight in 2014.

Javier Baez drove in a run with a bunt single off Luis Castillo (5-8), and Kyle Schwarber followed with a two-run homer, his third in four games. Castillo went 5 2/3 innings for his first victory since May 24, ending a streak of four straight losses.

Raisel Iglesias retired the side in the ninth for his 12th save in 14 chances.

”That was one of our cleaner ballgames of the season,” interim manager Jim Riggleman said. ”We played a good ballgame – offensively, defensively, ran the bases well, timely hitting.”

Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo went a combined 0 for 8 with three strikeouts as Chicago’s offense struggled again, managing only four hits.

”We’ve played maybe two of our least-impressive games in a month,” manager Joe Maddon said. ”It’s just not been us playing our typical game.”

DUENSING BACK

Left-handed reliever Brian Duensing was activated off the bereavement list before the game. He had been gone for four days to attend his grandfather’s funeral. The Cubs optioned right-hander Justin Hancock to Triple-A Iowa.

GREAT GRAB

Cubs reliever Justin Wilson made a diving grab of Jesse Winker’s bunt in the seventh, landing on his chest while stretching for the ball. He was shaken up for a moment but stayed in the game.

STATS

Each of Schwarber’s last three hits has been a home run. Schwarber grew up in nearby Middletown and attended Reds games at Great American. He’s batted .318 in 30 career games against the Reds with nine homers and 25 RBIs.

TOP PICK, FIRST PITCH

Bengals center Billy Price threw a ceremonial pitch pregame, bouncing it to the plate. Price was the Bengals’ top pick in the draft.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: Yu Darvish could begin a rehab assignment next week. He threw 50 pitches in a simulated game without problem on Wednesday. Darvish has been sidelined since May 23 because of tendinitis in his right triceps.

Reds: Homer Bailey will make a rehab start for Triple-A Louisville on Saturday [url=http://www.atlantafalconsteamonline.com/deadrin-senat-jersey]Authentic Deadrin Senat Jersey[/url] , throwing between 75 and 90 pitches. Bailey has been sidelined since June 2 with a sore right knee. He’s 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA.

UP NEXT

Cubs: Luke Farrell (2-2) will make his first start of the season after a dozen relief appearances.

Reds: Anthony DeSclafani makes his fourth start. He was sidelined for the first two months with a strained oblique suffered during spring training. DeSclafani is 2-1 with a 4.60 ERA.

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HOUSTON — Heralded outfield prospect Kyle Tucker made his big-league debut Saturday for the Astros, a move that not only has implications for Tucker but two other outfielders.

With Tucker, who finished 1-for-4 with a bases-loaded walk and three strikeouts in the Astros’ 12-6 win, in the fold, outfielder Tony Kemp will see a reduction in his playing time despite providing a spark for the Astros (60-31) since his mid-May recall. Kemp has a slash line of .295/.385/.410 over 40 games.

Outfielder Jake Marisnick, meanwhile, was optioned to Triple-A Fresno for a second time on the same night he delivered another sparkling play in center field.

Marisnick was batting .190 with 69 strikeouts in 163 plate appearances.

“It was hard for Jake, and it should be,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s had a roller-coaster season going up and down. The first go-round he was really needing to go correct some things. The second go-around he was doing a lot better and things were out of his control a little bit as to him going down to Triple-A. There are still some offensive adjustments we want him to make.

“(Kemp) came up and won the right to stay in the big leagues. When a transaction happens, we talk a lot about the guy we sent down but the guy that we kept earned the right to be here. I’m very proud of what Tony has contributed to this team, and it hasn’t always been fair to him the last couple of years.”

Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel (5-8, 4.12 ERA) will start the series finale against the White Sox. He has posted three quality starts in his last four outings, going 2-0 with a 2.96 ERA and 21 strikeouts across 24 1/3 innings during that stretch.

Keuchel is 3-4 with a 3.81 ERA over eight career starts against the White Sox including a 10-1 win on April 21 when he worked six innings and allowed one run on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Right-hander Lucas Giolito (5-7, 6.93 ERA) gets the starting nod for Chicago (30-59). He is 2-3 with a 7.50 ERA in his last eight starts, allowing five runs or more four times.

Giolito will make his third career start against the Astros, against whom he is 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA. He was charged with nine runs on five hits and seven walks opposite Keuchel on April 21 and suffered the loss in his previous appearance at Minute Maid Park on Sept. 19, 2017, when he allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk with three strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of a 3-1 loss.

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson was back in the starting lineup Saturday and finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts after sitting out the previous game to manage the soreness in his left forearm. Anderson was hit by a pitch in Thursday’s series opener.

Anderson has become a fixture in the eight-hole when Chicago faces a right-handed starter, a move designed to help amplify the depth of the White Sox lineup and provide additional opportunities atop the batting order for fellow infielders Yoan Moncada and Yolmer Sanchez.

“If you look at the lineup it just lengthens out (and) allows us to put him and keep him there,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said of Anderson. “As long as he stays comfortable there he helps us there quite a bit. Picks up the back end of the lineup and I think we’ve gotten some benefits out of it.”