The Cincinnati Reds avoided the sweep as they hammered the Chicago Cubs 9-2 on Thursday afternoon.  The Reds came up with some big hits against Ted Lilly and kept the Cubs bats cooled down which they didn’t do the first two games of the series.

Joey Votto had a huge day for the Reds as he bases loaded triple and then a two-run home run to finish with five RBI.  Ken Griffey Jr. hit a three run home run and finished with three RBI.  Ryan Freel also had one RBI.

Edinson Volquez earned the win as he pitched five innings and only allowed one earned run.  Volquez got in trouble early in the game as some close calls didn’t go his way, but he was able to wiggle his way out of the jams.  Good job by Volquez!

Jared Burton pitched two innings foloowing Volquez and allowed one run on three hits.  David Weathers and Todd Coffey pitched the final two innings and held the Cubs down.

Reds Blog