CINCINNATI (Interstat) — Hunter Greene pitched seven dominant innings, Elly De La Cruz and JJ Bleday each homered, and the Cincinnati Reds shut out the Chicago Cubs 4-0 on Friday night at Great American Ball Park.

Greene allowed three hits, walked none and struck out 12 in a rebound performance after a rough outing against Baltimore on July 4. The right-hander retired the first nine batters he faced before Seiya Suzuki led off the second with a double. Greene worked around that hit and scattered two more singles over the next five innings, lowering his ERA after allowing eight earned runs in 3⅓ innings in his previous start.

The Reds broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning when De La Cruz led off with a line-drive home run to left-center field, his 15th of the season. The solo shot came against Cubs starter Shota Imanaga, who had kept Cincinnati in check through four innings despite allowing baserunners.

Cincinnati added three runs in the seventh against the Chicago bullpen. De La Cruz tripled to right field leading off against reliever Jake Woodford, and Sal Stewart followed with a sacrifice fly to center that scored De La Cruz. Spencer Steer singled, and Bleday then hit a two-run homer to center field, his 15th, to extend the lead to 4-0. Eugenio Suárez singled and Tyler Stephenson singled after that, but Woodford struck out TJ Friedl to end the inning.

Greene struck out the side in the first inning, striking out Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman and Michael Busch to begin the game. He retired the Cubs in order in the third and fourth innings, mixing a mid-90s fastball with a sharp slider that generated swings and misses. Greene walked no one and threw 107 pitches, 77 for strikes.

Cincinnati’s offense collected 13 hits against three Chicago pitchers. Steer went 3-for-4 with a single in the first, a single in the third and a single in the seventh. Stewart had two hits, including a line-drive single in the first and a ground-ball single in the third. De La Cruz finished with two hits in five at-bats, including the home run and triple, and drove in one run.

Imanaga took the loss, falling to 5-8. He pitched five innings, allowed seven hits and one earned run, walked one and struck out five. The left-hander worked out of trouble in the first inning after Stewart and Steer singled, striking out Bleday and Suárez to end the threat. He stranded two runners in the third after Stewart and Steer singled again, getting Bleday to line out and striking out Suárez.

Chicago had only one scoring chance against Greene. In the seventh inning, Suzuki singled and Ian Happ walked with one out, putting runners at first and second. Nico Hoerner lined out to center field, advancing Suzuki to third, but Michael Conforto struck out swinging to end the inning.

Greene’s performance overshadowed an otherwise quiet offensive night for the Cubs, who managed four hits total. Suzuki doubled in the second and singled in the seventh, Dansby Swanson singled in the eighth, and Happ singled in the fifth. Chicago went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

Emilio Pagán pitched a scoreless eighth inning, striking out three. Brock Burke worked a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one.

The Reds took advantage of some defensive positioning and opportunistic hitting. In the seventh, De La Cruz’s triple was a ground ball that got past right fielder Seiya Suzuki and rolled to the wall. Stewart’s sacrifice fly scored the run easily, and Bleday’s homer came on a 2-2 pitch that he drove to straightaway center.

Cincinnati’s defense also made plays. Left fielder Bleday tracked down a line drive from Michael Busch in the first inning. Shortstop De La Cruz fielded a ground ball in the fifth to start a force out that ended a Cubs threat.

The Cubs had a bid for a rally in the second when Suzuki doubled, but Greene struck out Happ, Hoerner and Conforto in succession. Chicago did not advance a runner past second base until the seventh.

The victory improved Cincinnati’s record to 43-50 and snapped a two-game losing streak. The Reds lost 1-0 to Philadelphia on Thursday and had dropped three of their previous four games. The Cubs fell to 52-42, losing for the second time in three games after dropping a 3-2 decision at Baltimore on Thursday.

Chicago had won three of its previous four games heading into the series opener. The Cubs took two of three from the Orioles, scoring nine and five runs in victories before Thursday’s loss. Cincinnati had lost five of six entering Friday, with the lone win an 11-5 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday.

The game lasted 2 hours, 35 minutes before an announced crowd of 30,878.

The two teams continue the three-game series Saturday. The Cubs will send left-hander Justin Steele to the mound against Reds right-hander Nick Lodolo.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 8, Cincinnati Reds 3, and Interstatl’s ELO system gave the Cubs a 57.30 percent probability to win. Chicago had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5 runs. The total of four runs scored went over the over-under line of nine.