CHICAGO (AP) — Seiya Suzuki had a wild second inning for the Chicago Cubs on a wet Saturday night at Wrigley Field.
Suzuki committed an error in the top half of the second, leading to four unearned runs for the Cincinnati Reds. In the bottom half, he atoned for the miscue with his first career grand slam.
The start of the game was delayed for almost 3 1/2 hours because of rain, and the showers continued with varying intensity through the first few innings.
Cincinnati had the bases loaded with two out in the second when Luke Maile hit a lazy flyball to right off Justin Steele. But Suzuki had the ball go off the side of his glove.
All three runners scored, and Stuart Fairchild followed with an RBI single that lifted the Reds to a 4-0 lead. What was left of the announced crowd of 36,430 then cheered sarcastically when Suzuki caught Elly De La Cruz’s flyball for the final out of the inning.
Chicago loaded the bases in the bottom of the second on three walks by Hunter Greene. After Mike Tauchman struck out swinging for the second out, Suzuki sent a charge through the waterlogged crowd when he drove a full-count fastball deep to left.
Suzuki’s sixth homer traveled 400 feet with a 106.9 mph exit velocity. The Japanese slugger also hit his first triple of the season in the first on a drive to center with a 103.1 mph exit velocity.
The Cubs are hoping to rebound this month after they hit .217 and averaged 3.5 runs per game while going 10-18 in May. A resurgent Suzuki could go a long way to helping the issues with the team’s lineup.
The 29-year-old Suzuki hit .285 with 20 homers and 74 RBIs last year in his second season in the majors. He got off to a solid start this year, batting .305 with three homers and 13 RBIs in his first 15 games, but he strained his right oblique during a 3-2 win at Seattle on April 14.
Suzuki hasn’t been the same since he returned May 11, batting .219 (16 for 73) in his last 18 games going into Saturday night.
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