Cubs 2, Reds 0
Cubs 2, Reds 0: Ryan Sweeney and Luis Valbuena homered while Travis Wood beat his former team for the first time in seven tries as visiting Chicago snapped Cincinnati's four-game winning streak.
Wood (9-11) struck out seven and scattered six hits over seven scoreless frames without issuing a walk as the Cubs won for only the ninth time in their last 27 contests. Pedro Strop worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth and Kevin Gregg pitched around a one-out double in the ninth for his 31st save.
Cincinnati starter Bronson Arroyo (13-11) struck out six but allowed both Chicago home runs among seven hits over seven innings. Joey Votto and Zack Cozart each had two hits for the Reds, who dropped two games back of St. Louis in the National League Central but are seven games ahead of Washington for the NL’s second wild-card spot.
Sweeney drove a 1-1 changeup into the right-field seats with one out in the second to open the scoring, and Valbuena connected with a 1-1 sinker for a one-out shot in the third.
The Reds had runners in scoring position in five of the first six innings but couldn't convert, finishing 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine men on base.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Cubs last shut out the Reds on Aug. 19, 2008, and Cincinnati had scored in 86 straight meetings since. … Cozart doubled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games, the second-longest active streak in the majors. … Cincinnati CF Shin-Soo Choo was hit by a pitch for the 25th time, breaking Jason LaRue's single-season franchise record set in 2004.