The Cubs lost to the Reds 6-2 on a cloudy, sprinkly Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, ending their four-game winning streak.

Nevertheless, I have some positive things to give you in this otherwise pretty brief game recap.

The Cubs, utterly baffled by Andrew Abbott for seven innings on just one hit, tried to mount a comeback against the Reds bullpen and, while they scored only two runs, they had five hits, four for extra bases, and had the tying run on deck in the eighth and ninth innings.
Génesis Cabrera had a nice Cubs debut, striking out three of the five hitters he faced. Here’s his first Cubs strikeout [VIDEO].

Chris Flexen again showed very well out of the bullpen, with two more scoreless innings. That makes 14⅓ innings as a Cub for Flexen with just the one extra-inning unearned run Wednesday charged to his record, otherwise he has an ERA of 0.00.

This team really doesn’t quit. Think about it: They came back from four runs down and five runs down to win a pair in Cincinnati last weekend and you have to believe that once Cubs batters started to hit in the eighth inning, there had to be a murmur of “Not THIS again!” in the visiting dugout at Wrigley Field.

Oh, one more thing. Maybe Colin Rea shouldn’t start against the Reds anymore this year. In two starts he’s allowed them 17 hits and 12 earned runs in 10x innings. That’s a 10.13 ERA, and if that’s not bad enough, that includes four home runs allowed. So… when the Cubs next face the Reds in August, maybe juggle the rotation so that Rea misses the series? And again in September?

Rea did make a nice defensive play on this bunt attempt in the fourth inning [VIDEO].

Okay. So the game goes to the bottom of the eighth 6-0 and the Cubs have had exactly two baserunners, a one-out walk by Kyle Tucker in the first and a leadoff single by Justin Turner in the third.

Abbott was removed at 93 pitches for Tony Santillan, and after a sharp line drive out by Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner doubled.

A triple (!) by pinch-hitter Michael Busch made it 6-1 [VIDEO].

Matt Shaw followed with an RBI single [VIDEO].

That was followed by Ian Happ drawing a walk. Well. Now the tying run is on deck and there’s only one out.

The Reds brought in Graham Ashcraft, a former starter who’s done very well in their bullpen, sort of their version of Brad Keller.

Ashcraft got Tucker to hit into this double play, ending the inning [VIDEO].

In the ninth, Seiya Suzuki led off with a double. One out later, Pete Crow-Armstrong blooped a ball into short left. Suzuki had to hold up to see if it would be caught, but Reds fielders didn’t play the ball well and PCA got himself a hustle double {VIDEO].

So again, the tying run is on deck. Now the Reds have to bring in their closer, Emilio Pagan.

Pagan struck out Swanson and got Hoerner to ground to short to end the game.

Still, as I noted, those late-inning rallies were nice to see, even though they fell short. The “never quit” attitude of this team will serve them well the rest of the year.

The teams will meet again Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Drew Pomeranz is listed as the Cubs starting pitcher, very likely as an opener, with Ben Brown (whose turn in the rotation would have come up Saturday) following. Pomeranz hasn’t thrown more than 17 pitches in any outing for the Cubs this year, so he’s likely throwing only the first inning.

Nick Lodolo, who the Cubs faced last Sunday in Cincinnati, will go for the Reds.

Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and Reds market territories).