CINCINNATI -- The Cubs continued their bid to host the National League Wild Card Game presented by Budweiser by posting a soggy 5-3 win Thursday afternoon over the Reds, who lost their 12th in a row.Austin Jackson smacked a three-run home run and Anthony Rizzo added an RBI double to back Jason Hammel, who scattered five hits over five innings for the win in his final regular-season start.
With the Pirates idle Thursday, the Cubs picked up a half game in the race for home-field advantage in the Oct. 7 game, and they now are two games back. The Pirates' magic number to play the game at PNC Park is two. 
John Lamb took the loss, which extended the Reds' skid to 12, the longest streak since they dropped a dozen, Sept. 10-22, 1993.MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Action Jackson: Making his 11th start since joining the Cubs, Jackson continued his hot streak from Wednesday, when he drove in a career-high five runs. The outfielder, acquired Aug. 31 from the Mariners, smacked a three-run homer in the third and also made a nice running catch in right to rob Brandon Phillips of a potential hit and end the third.The streak continues: Joey Votto kept his on-base streak alive with an RBI single through the middle off of Clayton Richard in the seventh that made it a 5-2 game. Votto now has reached base safely in 47 consecutive games, one shy of Pete Rose's 1978 single-season Reds record. The last player in the Majors to have a streak this long was Kevin Millar, who reached in 52 straight games in 2007. Phillips followed with an RBI single that bounced off of third baseman Javier Baez to make it a two-run game. Representing the tying run, Jay Bruce struck out to end the inning.Start me up: Hammel struck out five and did not walk a batter. Cubs starting pitchers have given up one earned run over 33 1/3 innings in their five-game winning streak. Whether Hammel will be considered to start in the postseason will depend on whether the Cubs advance past the Wild Card game, and who manager Joe Maddon picks between Hammel, Kyle Hendricks and Dan Haren.Down and out: Phillips hit a leadoff double in the sixth and stole third base with no outs. Bruce hit a popup to short left field that was caught by Baez. In a moment that seemed to sum up the day, Phillips feigned tagging up and danced up and down the line, but fell down on the wet grass. That was all the Cubs needed to get him into a rundown before Phillips was out in a double play that kept Cincinnati down 5-0 at the time.Carrie Muskat/ MLB.com
John Lamb took the loss, which extended the Reds' skid to 12, the longest streak since they dropped a dozen, Sept. 10-22, 1993.MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Action Jackson: Making his 11th start since joining the Cubs, Jackson continued his hot streak from Wednesday, when he drove in a career-high five runs. The outfielder, acquired Aug. 31 from the Mariners, smacked a three-run homer in the third and also made a nice running catch in right to rob Brandon Phillips of a potential hit and end the third.The streak continues: Joey Votto kept his on-base streak alive with an RBI single through the middle off of Clayton Richard in the seventh that made it a 5-2 game. Votto now has reached base safely in 47 consecutive games, one shy of Pete Rose's 1978 single-season Reds record. The last player in the Majors to have a streak this long was Kevin Millar, who reached in 52 straight games in 2007. Phillips followed with an RBI single that bounced off of third baseman Javier Baez to make it a two-run game. Representing the tying run, Jay Bruce struck out to end the inning.Start me up: Hammel struck out five and did not walk a batter. Cubs starting pitchers have given up one earned run over 33 1/3 innings in their five-game winning streak. Whether Hammel will be considered to start in the postseason will depend on whether the Cubs advance past the Wild Card game, and who manager Joe Maddon picks between Hammel, Kyle Hendricks and Dan Haren.Down and out: Phillips hit a leadoff double in the sixth and stole third base with no outs. Bruce hit a popup to short left field that was caught by Baez. In a moment that seemed to sum up the day, Phillips feigned tagging up and danced up and down the line, but fell down on the wet grass. That was all the Cubs needed to get him into a rundown before Phillips was out in a double play that kept Cincinnati down 5-0 at the time.Carrie Muskat/ MLB.com
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