McCoy: Bullpen comes up big, Reds complete sweep of Cubs

This time they guarded a one-run lead in the eighth and ninth for a 3-2 victory. It completed a three-game sweep (2-1, 3-2, 3-2) over the Cubs, who have lost nine straight.

In enabled the Reds to solidify their hold on second place, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Cubs. And they pulled within seven games of the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers, a team whom the Reds play seven games against in the near future.

The bullpen is without its two best operatives, injured Tejay Antone and Lucas Sims. But Heath Hembree, Brad Brach, Art Warren, Ryan Hendrix, Sean Doolittle, Josh Osich and Amir Garrett turned their effectiveness to ultra-high.

They have not given up a run over their last 12 innings, nine against the Cubs.

The Cubs had runners on base in all nine innings but were only able to score one in the first and one in second off starter Wade Miley. Miley gave up 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings.

Chicago spliced together three straight singles for a run in the first, but the inning ended when Eugenio Suarez started a highlight-reel double play, one of four astounding stops in the early innings at third base before he made two late-game errors.

The Cubs made it 2-0 in the second on a triple by Jake Marisnick and a two-out single by pitcher Kyle Hendricks.

Ah, Hendricks. He entered the game with an 8-0 record over his last nine starts and he was baffling and confusing the Reds with an assortment of cream-puff pitches. He was like a barber. “Who’s next?”

The Reds scored one off him after threatening in the fifth. Miley and Jonathan India poked back-to-back one-out singles, but Joey Votto hit into a double play.

The run came in the second when Kyle Farmer was hit by a pitch and he scored on Tucker Barnhart’s double.

It stayed 2-1 until Hendricks left after six. The Reds scored twice against Dan Winkler when he filled the bases with no outs. One of the runners was Farmer, the Reds’ pin cushion. He was hit by a pitch for a second time in the game and leads the league with 11 bruises.

And the runner scored when India was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and the winning run scored on Jesse Winker’s infield out.

And the game was turned over to the bullpen. Warren pitched one-third of an inning, Brach pitched 1 1/3 innings and Garrett pitched an eventful ninth for his sixth save.

“The way our whole bullpen has been of late, it is just hand it off and let ‘em go,” said Miley. “It has been fun to watch.”

When Garrett arrived in the ninth with one out, he threw six straight pitches far away from the strike zone. He walked Ian Happ to put the potential tying run on base. Then he went 2-and-0 on pinch-hitter Eric Sogard.

That earned him a what’s-going-on visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson.

The conversation, as related by Garrett:

“He asked me if I was all right. I said, ‘I’m good. I got this.’ He said, ‘Are you sure?’ I said, ‘I’m good, let me get this.’ He said throw the ball right down the middle and get this double play.”

Instead, Sogard singled, putting runners on first and second, but Garrett got his game-concluding double play on Willson Contreras.

“We have some key guys (Antone, Sims) that are not here right now,” said Garrett. “So for us to put this string together is awesome. I knew I had to pick up my performance and the other guys knew they had to pick up their performance. What we’ve been doing is a big statement. It’s like, ‘We’re good, we got this.’ It was a wake-up call for us and we’re finally starting to wake up.”

With the sweep and the last game of a four-game series against San Diego, the Reds have won four straight and they came from behind in all four.

“We may be down, but we’re never out,” said Garrett. “Never count the Reds out, I’m telling you. We’re in a happy spot as a team right now.”

With four straight one-run wins, the Reds are 15-9 in one-run games.

“Good teams win those games,” said Miley. “It’s never give in, never give up.”

The Reds have swept at least one series from every team in the division this year, the first time they’ve accomplished it since 2012 and only the third time in team history.

MONDAY’S GAME

Reds at Royals, 8:10 p.m., Bally Sports Ohio, 700, 1410