Behind Jackson's homer, Cubs win fifth straight, sweep Reds

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After driving in five runs in Wednesday night's win, Austin Jackson smacked a three-run home run to help the Cubs complete a sweep of the Reds with a 5-3 win Thursday in Cincinnati.

Jackson broke a scoreless tie in the third inning with his longball, which plated Addison Russell and Dexter Fowler and gave the team's relative newcomer his sixth, seventh and eighth RBIs in the past two games.

Anthony Rizzo drove in a run with a double in the fifth, and Chris Denorfia's infield single brought home a run later in the same inning to make it 5-0.

Cubs starter Jason Hammel pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five to earn his 10th win of the season.

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The Cubs bullpen allowed three runs in the seventh, though none of the runs were earned. After Fernando Rodney allowed back-to-back singles to leadoff the inning, a Russell error loaded the bases. Two batters later, a run scored on a fielder's choice. Rodney yielded to Clayton Richard, and another run scored on a single. Trevor Cahill then came in, and another Cincinnati single resulted in a third run. All the runs were credited to Rodney, though none were earned.

Pedro Strop struck out three in the eighth, and Hector Rondon pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 29th save of the season.

The Cubs earned their fifth straight win and swept this three-game series with the Reds. The Cubs went 13-6 against the Reds this season. Just three games remain in the regular season, a weekend series against the Brewers at Miller Park.

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