Spencer Steer belted a three-run homer and Zack Littell tossed seven strong innings in his Cincinnati debut, fueling the visiting Reds to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
Steer had an RBI single in the fifth inning and launched his 13th homer of the season to snap a 1-1 tie in the seventh.
Miguel Andujar joined Steer, Jose Trevino and TJ Friedl by recording two hits and Santiago Espinal added a sacrifice fly to propel Cincinnati to its second straight victory to begin the three-game series.
The offense was more than enough for Littell (9-8), who allowed one run on three hits and struck out eight batters. He was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays prior to the trade deadline last week.
Littell’s lone blemish was Matt Shaw’s solo homer with one out in the fifth inning.
Graham Ashcraft, Sam Moll and Tony Santillan combined to work the final two innings to send the Cubs to their third loss in four games.
Andrew Kittredge (2-3) relieved starter Shota Imanaga in the seventh inning and promptly walked Austin Hays and permitted Andujar’s single to left field. Steer provided the big blast by depositing a 2-1 slider from Kittredge over the wall in left-center field.
Cincinnati wasn’t done, however, as Noelvi Marte ripped a double and came around to score following a single by Trevino and a sacrifice fly from Espinal.
That signaled the end of the evening for Kittredge, who yielded four runs on four hits in one-third of an inning.
Andujar ripped a ground-rule double with one out in the fifth inning off Shota Imanaga before coming around to score on Steer’s single just inside the left-field line.
Shaw forged a tie after depositing a 0-2 fastball from Littell over the wall in left-center field. The homer was Shaw’s seventh of the season and fifth since July 19, and it was the majors-best 27th allowed by Littell.
Imanaga retired the first nine batters he faced before Friedl reached on a bunt single to lead off the fourth inning. Imanaga, however, picked off Friedl when the latter strayed too far off first base.
