Anthony Rizzo homered twice and Yu Darvish delivered a workmanlike, six-inning effort to win his sixth straight decision in the Chicago Cubs' 3-0 victory over the host Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Saturday.

Rizzo homered early and late to help National League Central-leading Chicago snap a three-game losing streak by taking the seven-inning affair.

Darvish (6-1) has been one of the league's best pitchers, but wasn't as dominant as he's been of late. Still, he overcame seven hits by striking out eight and walking two while throwing 104 pitches to give the Cubs a needed victory.

Jeremy Jeffress pitched the ninth to record his fourth save for Chicago.

Cincinnati totaled 18 runs while winning its previous three games, but stranded 10 runners on Saturday. Joey Votto, who was benched amid an 0-for-18 stretch, joined Mike Moustakas with two hits apiece for the Reds, who went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Trevor Bauer (3-2) suffered his second straight losing decision amid a second consecutive subpar outing. The right-hander was charged with all three Chicago runs while yielding four hits, walking two and striking out five over 5 1/3 innings.

Chicago got on the board in the second. Kyle Schwarber walked to open the frame, advanced to third on Willson Contreras' single and scored on Jason Heyward's fielder's choice.

The Cubs made it 2-0 in the third when Rizzo took Bauer deep to right field for his second home run in as many games. Rizzo has hit safely in six straight contests after going four in a row without one.

Rizzo extended the Cubs' lead off Bauer in the sixth with another long drive to right field for this eighth home run of 2020.

Even with the victory, fellow Chicago star Javier Baez endured another rough day. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts after fanning in all four at-bats in Friday's 7-6 loss at Cincinnati.

--Field Level Media