None of that mattered much once the lineups got going. Both offenses found holes in shaky pitching staffs, and the number on the board going in reflected a Cubs club that was supposed to handle a last-place opponent at home without much drama.
It didn't play out that way. Cincinnati broke the game open with a 5-run 6th inning, capped by a Tyler Stephenson homer, to take a 7-3 lead, then pushed it to 9-3 the following inning. Sal Stewart went deep twice and Jonathan India also connected, giving the Reds three separate multi-run swings in an afternoon that had looked like a laugher for the home team early.
Chicago didn't fold. The Cubs clawed back with a string of runs in the 8th to pull within 9-8, turning what had been a laugher into a one-run game with the tying and go-ahead runs in reach. That's the kind of finish that reflects both rosters honestly — a contender with enough firepower to make a big deficit disappear in an inning, and a rebuilding club with a bullpen that couldn't hold a 6-run cushion.
The Reds needed one more answer, and TJ Friedl gave it to them off the bench — a pinch-hit home run in the 9th that put Cincinnati back up two and effectively ended it. Alexis Pagán closed the door from there. It's a shrug of a result in the standings for a Reds club with no games that matter left, and a genuinely bad one for a Cubs team that's supposed to be playing playoff baseball down the stretch.
Lowder picked up the win with 5.0 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs and 5 strikeouts — not dominant, but enough to hand a lead to a bullpen that made it stand. For Chicago, it's a reminder that a division-leading record doesn't mean much on a given afternoon when the other dugout is swinging it well and your own relievers give a big lead back.