CHICAGO -- Chris Coghlan homered and the Cubs scored four unanswered runs to rally for a 5-3 victory over the Braves on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Chicago is now 3 1/2 games behind Pittsburgh for the first Wild Card spot in the National League.
Kris Bryant and Miguel Montero hit consecutive RBI doubles in the sixth inning off Braves starter Shelby Miller, who saw his winless streak extended to 17 starts. Miller recorded eight strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings, but he couldn't capitalize on the rare run support he received as the Braves carried a 3-1 lead into the fifth inning.
 
Montero, bullpen lead Cubs to 5-3 win over Braves
 
Atlanta scored once in the first and twice in the fourth inning off Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks, who lasted five innings. The Cubs' bullpen pitched a combined four scoreless innings and allowed just two baserunners -- both in the ninth inning -- with Jason Motte picking up the win in relief to move to 8-1.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Minimal harm done: In the fifth, the Cubs put more than one runner on base for the first time all day against Miller, but they left with only one run to show for it. Miguel Montero, Jorge Soler and Chris Denorfia all reached base to start the frame before Montero scored on Pedro Ciriaco's errant throw to second on a potential double-play ball. But Miller struck out Addison Russell, walked Dexter Fowler and forced Kyle Schwarber to ground into a double play to end the threat.
Sudden trouble: After encountering just one two-ball count through the first four innings, Miller issued a pair of walks and was burdened by the Ciriaco throwing error before he minimized damage in the fifth. But he was not so fortunate in the sixth, when he walked Anthony Rizzo ahead of the consecutive doubles recorded by Bryant and Montero. Miller was charged with five runs (four earned).
Confusing command: Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he wanted to see Hendricks command his pitches well enough to work ahead in counts, and he received mixed results on Friday. Hendricks, allowed 10 baserunners on seven hits, surrendering at least three runs for the third consecutive game. But he issued just one walk across five innings and struck out seven batters, relying on his changeup to get out of jams as opposed to his fastball.
Rare contributions: Nick Markakis highlighted his 40th multihit game of the season with a two-run fourth-inning double that gave Atlanta a 3-1 lead. This marked just the fourth time during his winless streak that Miller received at least three runs of support while he still had the potential to earn a win.
REPLAY REVIEW Markakis' two-out double came with the assistance of a successful challenge the Braves issued after Ciriaco was initially ruled out while advancing from first to second base on an Andrelton Simmons ground ball in the fourth inning. Second-base umpire Ben May's initial call was overturned after replays showed Ciriaco slid into second base ahead of Bryant's throw.
Greg Garno/ MLB.com
 

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