Homer Bailey had received plenty of run support in his first three starts without a win to show for it. The right-hander, who signed a six-year, $105 million deal in the offseason, started the season 0-1 with an 8.16 ERA while failing to make it past the fifth inning in any of those three starts.
Bailey once again got plenty of support, and finally returned the favor. His outing wasn’t always pretty, but Bailey tossed six shutout innings, scattering six hits, walking three and striking out eight to pick up his first win of the season and vault the Reds to an 8-2 win and series victory over the Cubs on Sunday at Wrigley Field.
Reds manager Bryan Price said before the game that Bailey’s poor start to the season would turn around soon, and that his No. 3 starter was simply struggling with his command.
“No, actually,” Bailey said when asked if he thought he showed his best command of the season. “I walked three people and wasn’t too happy about it. It’s just kind of the ups and downs and I’m still trying to catch that rhythm. It seems like every time I take the mound the bats show up and I’m just glad I was finally able to help them out.”
Bailey only threw one 1-2-3 inning and had to pitch out of several jams. The Cubs put two on with one out in the first but Bailey struck out Nate Schierholtz and got Starlin Castro to pop out to second.
In the third, Emilio Bonifacio singled with one out and tried to take second on a delayed steal. He was initially called safe but Price challenged, and the call was overturned after a review. It was a big overturn for the Reds as Bailey plunked Ryan Sweeney and walked Anthony Rizzo before striking out Schierholtz again.
The Cubs put two more on with one out in the fifth, but Bailey retired Rizzo and Schierholtz to strand the pair. Zack Cozart ended the sixth with a nice running catch into the Cubs bullpen down the left-field line, leaving two in scoring position.
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