Cubs 9, Reds 1: Welington Castillo homered twice and Edwin Jackson pitched seven strong innings and also went deep as visiting Chicago surpassed last season's win total with its 62nd victory.

Donnie Murphy also homered and drove in three runs for the Cubs, who are on the verge of their first three-game sweep in Cincinnati since May 28-30, 2001. The Reds fell 2 1/2 games behind National League Central leader St. Louis but remain six ahead of Washington for the second wild card.

Jackson (8-15) allowed one run on nine hits and blasted his second career home run - a solo shot in the seventh - while winning for the first time since July 31. Reds starter Tony Cingrani (7-4) allowed two runs on three hits before leaving after 1 2/3 innings with back spasms.

Castillo staked Jackson to a 2-0 lead with a blast into the upper deck in left in the second. The Cubs tacked on three in the third on Murphy's two-run shot to left and Darnell McDonald's RBI single.

Darwin Barney's sacrifice fly made it 6-0 in the fourth, Murphy tacked on an RBI double in the sixth and Castillo drove a 1-2 fastball from Curtis Partch out to center in the seventh for his first career multi-homer game.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cingrani was making his second start since missing two turns in the rotation with a lower back strain. … Cubs pitchers lead the majors with six home runs, three more than Atlanta and San Diego. … Reds SS Zack Cozart extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games with a double in the seventh.