Big Z homers, beats Reds for Cubs' 7th straight

CHICAGO -- Carlos Zambrano homered and pitched six solid innings, and the streaking Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 11-4 on Saturday.The Cubs pounded Reds starter Johnny Cueto for five runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings and have won seven straight games for the first time since Aug. 23-29, 2008. Starlin Castro drove in four runs for Chicago, his highest RBI total since he drove in six in his major league debut May 5, 2010. He doubled and singled, raising his NL-best hit total to 148.Carlos Pena doubled twice, walked, was hit by a pitch and drove in three runs for Chicago. Aramis Ramirez reached base four times on two singles, a walk and a hit by pitch and scored twice.Alfonso Soriano also was on base four times and scored twice. He singled, doubled and drew a pair of walks. Reed Johnson singled, doubled and scored three runs.Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips had to leave the game with a sprained right ankle after colliding with center fielder Drew Stubbs in the fourth. Phillips was able to finish the inning but was removed for pinch hitter Todd Frazier in the fifth.Zambrano (9-6) overcome early control problems. He allowed six hits and four walks and struck out six. One of the top hitting pitchers, Zambrano's solo homer in the third opened the scoring for Chicago and gave him seven career homers against Cincinnati.Cueto (7-5) hadn't allowed more than three earned runs over a span of 17 starts dating to last season but allowed season highs in hits and runs. The homer he allowed to Zambrano ended a streak of six starts without a long ball.Yonder Alonso drove in two runs and hit his first major league homer for the Reds, who have lost four of five and 11 of their last 15 on the road.Both pitchers started the game off with control problems. After retiring the first two Reds, Zambrano walked the bases full before striking out Miguel Cairo to end the threat.In the bottom of the first, Cueto hit Ramirez and Pena with two outs, but got Marlon Byrd on a groundout to escape the inning unscathed.None of the seven baserunners the starters allowed in the first two innings reached via a hit. Edgar Renteria snapped the string with a leadoff single in the third. He scored on Cairo's two-out bloop single to right. That was followed by Alonso's solid run-scoring single to left.Cueto entered the game with a 1.72 ERA and had allowed just one run over his past 20 innings but the Cubs responded to their early deficit by jumping on the hard-throwing righty and knocking him out of the game before he could escape the fourth.Zambrano started the rally by golfing a low pitch well into the right-field bleachers for his second homer of the season. It was the 23rd career homer for Zambrano, moving him into a tie with Walter Johnson for ninth on the all-time list for home runs as a pitcher.Cueto allowed seven hits, five runs, three walks, a homer, hit two batters and threw a wild pitch in 3 2/3 innings, striking out two.The Cubs broke the game open in the fifth with five runs against Cincinnati reliever Sam LeCure.The Reds matched their season high by committing three errors in the game.Game notes Tony Campana wasn't in the Cubs' lineup one day after his career-best game on Friday that featured three hits and his first career home run. Manager Mike Quade said that he'll continue using Campana as a bench player and occasional starter for the time being. After wavering slightly in his pregame talk with the media on Friday, Quade said that Rodrigo Lopez will make his next start despite his poor recent outings in which he's allowed 12 runs in 8 1/3 innings. Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman had a streak of 10 1/3 hitless innings snapped on Friday. It was the longest such streak by a Reds reliever since Chuck McElroy had 11 1/3 hitless innings from April 25 to May 17, 1994. Reds manager Dusty Baker said Chapman wasn't even aware that he had a streak going. Chris Heisey was held out of the Reds' lineup for the third straight game because of a sore oblique muscle caused by a batting practice swing Wednesday in Houston. Baker said that the team is not yet thinking of placing Heisey on the disabled list, but he wasn't sure when he would be able to return to action. The Cubs and Reds wrap up their three-game weekend series on Sunday. Bronson Arroyo will start for Cincinnati looking for his first win since June 25. He's 0-3 with three no decisions over that stretch. He's fared well at Wrigley Field, however, going 4-0 with a 1.95 ERA over his past five starts there. Randy Wells will take the mound for Chicago. He's 4-1 with a 2.96 ERA lifetime against the Reds, but he's struggled overall this season, having allowed a home run in 10 of his 13 starts. Zambrano has now driven in a run at the plate and earned a victory in the same game 38 times in his career, breaking a tie with Washington's Livan Hernandez for the most among active players.