CHICAGO — Elly De La Cruz hit a two-run triple in the 10th inning to break a scoreless tie and the Cincinnati Reds finished their season with a 3-0 shutout over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

De La Cruz tagged Ethan Roberts (1-1) for the go-ahead run down the right field line with the score 0-2 after Luke Maile singled and Jonathan India walked. Tyler Stephenson was next and hit De La Cruz with a single up the middle to help the Reds end a five-game deficit.

“Elly said before today that he was going to give us this win and indeed he had a great performance today,” said Reds interim manager Freddie Benavides, whose team was shut out in the first two games of the series.

Tony Santillan (3-3) picked up the win and Buck Farmer made it in the bottom of the 10th for his first save.

The Cubs, looking for a win over the Reds, managed just three hits as Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson had the day off.

Caleb Kilian made his first start of the season for the Cubs, allowing three hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings. Hunter Greene worked the first four for Cincinnati, giving up one hit with three walks and three strikeouts.

De La Cruz had stolen two bases and finished the season with an MLB-best 67. He is the first Cincinnati player to lead the majors in steals since Bobby Tolan collected 57 bases in 1970.

“I have a good feeling about this year, really good,” De La Cruz said after his 160th game. “I take pride in protecting my body and being able to play every day.”

Luis Vazquez scored his first career goal for Chicago, which matched last season’s 83-79 mark.

Cincinnati finished the year 77-85, a five-win decline from the previous year. The Reds haven’t recorded consecutive winning seasons in more than a decade. The club will also search for a new coach in the offseason to replace David Bell, who was fired last week after six seasons.

TRAINER ROOM

Cubs: Reliever Keegan Thompson left the ball in the middle of the eighth inning with an undisclosed injury.

ROTATION STYLE NUMBER

The Cubs sold 2,990,794 tickets this season, just over 15,000 more than last summer. Fans hoped for a postseason berth in the offseason when Chicago made Craig Counsell the highest-paid manager in the game’s history. The Cubs were never able to gain ground on NL Central champion Milwaukee in the final month of the season.

“It wasn’t a lack of talent, it wasn’t a lack of effort. It was just this thing that we couldn’t get over,” Bellinger said. “I believe in (Counsell). He is a very smart man and will take the places of this organization.”

NEXT

Cincinnati begins its spring season on Feb. 22 with a split-squad visit from Cleveland and a trip to the Milwaukee training complex.

Chicago begins its show with a game on February 20th at the Los Angeles Dodgers complex.

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