Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Cincinnati 5, Chi. Cubs 3
When: 1:10 PM ET, Saturday, August 18, 2012
Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
Temperature: 79°
Umpires: Home - Paul Schrieber, 1B - David Rackley, 2B - Lazaro Diaz, 3B - Tim Welke
Attendance: 28754

Reds 5, Cubs 3 (Game 1): Xavier Paul, Todd Frazier and Miguel Cairo each homered in support of Johnny Cueto as host Cincinnati took the opener of a doubleheader.

Cueto (16-6) struck out eight and allowed two runs on three hits without walking a batter in eight innings to tie Tampa Bay’s David Price for the major-league lead with 16 wins. The right-hander has won seven of his last eight starts .

Frazier continued his dominance of Chicago with a solo home run in the fourth that snapped a 2-2 deadlock. Frazier, who hit the go-ahead home run in Friday’s 7-3 win, has six multi-hit games in as many contests against the Cubs this month.

Chicago struck in the first inning when Cueto hit David DeJesus with a pitch leading off the game. Alfonso Soriano followed two batters later and sent his 22nd home run deep into the stands in left field. The two RBIs gave him 1,000 for his career.

The Reds responded against Jeff Samardzija (8-11) in the second inning. Frazier led off with a single in front of Paul, who got a 2-0 pitch and blasted it into the fourth row in right-center for his first homer.

Cincinnati took the lead in the fourth on Frazier’s leadoff blast, his 17th, off the facing of the second deck in left.

Cairo followed a batter later with his first home run to make it a two-run gap.

Samardzija lasted five innings and was charged with four runs on six hits while striking out five.

Frazier added a sacrifice fly in the eighth to provide some insurance for Aroldis Chapman, who allowed a run for the first time since June 24 but still locked down his 29th save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Soriano is the sixth player in major-league history to record at least 1,000 RBIs, 400 doubles, 350 home runs and 250 stolen bases. … The Cubs have reportedly agreed to a seven-year, $60 million contract extension with SS Starlin Castro, buying out the final four years of arbitration and three free-agent seasons. … The Reds recalled RHP Todd Redmond from Triple-A Louisville as the 26th man for the doubleheader. Redmond will be the 33rd player used by the team this season - the fewest in the majors. Chicago will start LHP Brooks Raley opposite Redmond in the nightcap. … Chapman had not allowed a run to a National League opponent since June 7.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Chi. Cubs   Cincinnati
Jeff Samardzija Player Johnny Cueto
Loss W/L Win
5.0 IP 8.0
5 Strikeouts 8
6 Hits 3
7.20 ERA 2.25
Hitting
Chi. Cubs   Cincinnati
Alfonso Soriano Player Todd Frazier
2 Hits 2
2 RBI 2
1 HR 1
5 TB 5
.500 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Chi. Cubs 5 1 8 .156 6 10 3 1 0 1
Cincinnati 8 3 20 .258 12 7 5 3 0 0