CINCINNATI – With two outs in the ninth trailing the Reds by one run, Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom was thinking, just get on base.

He poked a cutter into right field. Eric Hosmer, who recorded his first hits as a Cubs Monday, followed him, knowing he wanted to get to Reds pitcher Derek Law early and shoot the same hole Wisdom found. Hosmer did just that, turning on a first-pitch curveball. 

The likelihood of a comeback grew likelier with each hit. Then, pinch hitter Miles Mastrobuoni lined one over first baseman Jason Vosler’s head, he elevated and brought it down for the final out of the game. 

“The offense did a good job fighting today,” Hosmer said after the Cubs’ 7-6 loss. “Tough way to end it.” 

The turning points came earlier in the game, as the Cubs seized the lead twice and lost it twice. They had another opportunity in the seventh inning for a comeback and stranded three runners on base. 

“Our offense scored a lot of runs, plenty to win a game,” starter Drew Smyly said. “I just let us down tonight.”

The Cubs got off to a three-run lead, as Cody Bellinger logged the first hit of his Cubs tenure, a three-run home run in the first inning. 

Smyly walked the first batter he faced but then only gave up soft contact as the next four batters singled, tying the game at three runs apiece. 

The Reds took the lead the next inning, with the help of a throwing error credited to Smyly, when a miscommunication left no one covering first on a bunt. But he settled in and limited the damage the next two innings. 

The Cubs rallied again in the fifth. But Smyly gave up a three-run home run to Vosler to end his start two outs into the fifth inning. 

In the seventh, the Cubs put two runners on with a walk and catcher’s interference. Slugger Patrick Wisdom was up next. In a 3-1 count, he lined a bunt to the pitcher for an out. 

Wisdom was dealing with some soreness and inflammation in his left wrist after being hit there two innings prior, but he said that didn’t affect the decision to bunt. 

“I was seeing it unfold when I was on deck,” he said. “And I knew this is a big run, I need to get these guys over.”

The message from the bench lined up with that thought. 

“I had some debate in my mind whether to let him swing 3-1,” Ross said. “Didn’t, and it was a bad result. But he’s a really good bunter, a really good player, I thought the matchup favored us getting that guy over.”

Wisdom underwent X-rays after the game, and he said they showed that “everything’s good.”

Arizona updates

Back at the Cubs’ spring training complex in Arizona, lefty Brandon Hughes (inflammation in his left knee) threw a live batting practice session Sunday, according to the Cubs. He’s scheduled to throw again on Wednesday.

Right fielder Seiya Suzuki (strained left oblique) had two at-bats and played four innings in the field in a simulated game Monday.