CINCINNATI _ It wasn't a must win game for the Cubs, it just felt like one after all talk about road losses and the home run binge by Reds rookie Aristides Aquino the previous three games.
With Luis Castillo dealing and the Reds off to an early 3-0 lead against Jon Lester, it looked like another case of road rage was in the making.
But the Cubs bounced back Sunday with six unanswered runs in a 6-3 win, splitting the four-game series to start their 10-game road trip off on a good note.
Kris Bryant's two-out, three-run, go-ahead home run in the four-run seventh was the turning point for the Cubs, while the relief corps combined for four scoreless innings, including two from rookie Rowan Wick.
Pedro Strop came on in the ninth and notched his tenth save.
The Red took a quick lead off Lester in the second on Joey Votto's run-scoring double and an RBI single by Aquino, before Eugenio Suarez's solo home run in the fifth made it 3-0.
The Cubs finally broke through against Castillo on Javier Baez's two-out, RBI double in the sixth, and pulled to within one on Tony Kemp's run-scoring groundout in the seventh.
After Jason Heyward's hustle resulted in an infield hit and knocked out Castillo, Nicholas Castellanos singled off reliever Michael Lorenzen to put the tying run at second.
Bryant then came through with the biggest hit of the season, as Castellanos pumped his first in the air rounding second.
Without Brandon Kintzler and Steve Cishek, manager Joe Maddon called on Wick in the seventh to hold the lead. Wick struck out two of the first three hitters he faced, throwing 96 mph fastballs to Joey Votto before freezing him with a cutter for strike three to end the inning.
After Ian Happ homered in the eighth to make it 6-3 and Wick got through the bottom of the inning unscathed, despite nearly being beheaded by a Jose Peraza liner.
After all the angst about the Cubs inability to win on the road, a late-inning comeback like Sunday's could be just the answer Maddon was looking for.
