been in last place in the NL East after July

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The last-place Cincinnati Reds slammed the Chicago Cubs – again.

Anthony DeSclafani hit the first grand slam by a Cincinnati pitcher in 59 years Luke Kuechly Jersey , helping the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 11-2 on Saturday for their sixth consecutive victory.

It was Cincinnati’s third slam in five days and major league-leading seventh of the season, two short of the record set in 2002. Jesse Winker hit one in the series opener against Chicago on Thursday night.

The last Reds pitcher to hit a grand slam was Bob Purkey against the Cubs on Aug. 1, 1959.

Tucker Barnhart and Joey Votto also went deep in front of a crowd of 36,818, Cincinnati’s largest since opening day. Votto hit a three-run shot off backup catcher Chris Gimenez in the eighth.

”We’re playing clean baseball,” interim manager Jim Riggleman said. ”We’ve strung some good ballgames together.”

The Reds matched their longest win streak of the season and won a third straight game against the Cubs for the first time since winning five in a row in 2014.

”They definitely have played much better,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. ”They deserved all three. Our pitching was in disarray, and they took advantage of it.”

Willson Contreras and Ben Zobrist homered for Chicago, which has lost three straight games for the first time since a five-game slide from May 1 through May 6. Zobrist and Ian Happ each had two of the Cubs’ six hits.

Contreras’ fifth homer trimmed Cincinnati’s lead to 2-1 in the second, but the Reds responded with six in the third.

Votto sparked the rally with a two-out walk against Luke Farrell (2-3). Brian Duensing then came in and yielded run-scoring hits to Scooter Gennett and Eugenio Suarez with his first two pitches.

A walk to Winker and Adam Duvall’s infield single loaded the bases for DeSclafani, who drove a 3-2 pitch from Duensing into the seats in left for his first career homer.

”I got to a full count there,” DeSclafani said. ”I knew a fastball was coming, so I just tried to square it up and it happened to go out. At first, I didn’t think it was a home run. but I saw the left fielder kind of give up on it. Then I saw the ball get into the stands. It was awesome. Everything in that at-bat happened so quick, from when I swung and hit the ball until I started shaking hands in the dugout.”

DeSclafani (3-1) also pitched a season-high 6 1/3 innings in his fourth start after beginning the year on the disabled list with a left oblique strain. He allowed three hits, struck out three and walked four.

Farrell, a former Red and the son of ex-Red Sox manager and current Reds scout John Farrell, yielded Barnhart’s two-run homer in the first. He was charged with three runs and two hits in his second career start.

”I made one big mistake to Barnhart,” Farrell said. ”They’re an aggressive team. I got too aggressive with a fastball.”

GOOD SAMARITAN

Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber, who grew up in nearby Middletown, took an autographed bat to a fan who was injured by one of his foul balls. The fan walked out with help wearing a white bandage around his head.

RED HOT

Cincinnati third baseman Eugenio Suarez had three hits, extending his career-high hitting streak to 13 games. It’s the longest streak by a Red this season.

FOUR FOR FOUR

DeSclafani is the fourth Reds pitcher to hit a grand slam, joining Purkey, Al Hollingsworth in 1936, also against the Cubs, and Icebox Chamberlain with an inside-the-park homer in 1892.

ABOVE Wes Horton Jersey , BEYOND

Cubs third baseman Tommy La Stella crashed into the first row of seats down the left-field line while catching Votto’s first-inning popup.

TRAPPED

Contreras’s homer survived a crew-chief replay review after video showed a fan wearing a Cubs jersey trapped it with his glove against the top of the fence before hauling it in.

FRUSTRATED

Chicago bench coach Brandon Hyde was ejected by plate umpire Greg Gibson in the top of the fourth inning for complaining about ball-strike calls.

WHITE FLAG

Gimenez made his 10th career pitching appearance and first for the Cubs.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: LHP Rob Zastryzny left in the sixth with what Maddon called left side tightness.

Reds: INF Nick Senzel, Cincinnati’s top pick and the second overall selection in the 2016 draft, is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right index finger. He suffered the injury on Friday with Triple-A Louisville.

UP NEXT

Cubs: If Tyler Chatwood’s wife doesn’t go into labor, the right-hander will start Sunday’s series finale.

Reds: RHP Sal Romano (4-7) gave up six hits and seven runs in a 10-0 loss to Chicago on May 19.

MIAMI — The Miami Marlins spent June engaged in methodical but fruitful climb out of the basement in the National League East. The New York Mets can begin July by cementing their unimaginably rapid descent to the bottom of not just the division but the entire Senior Circuit.

The Marlins will look to move into sole possession of fourth place in the NL East Sunday, when they look to complete a sweep of the free-falling Mets in the finale of a three-game series at Marlins Park.

Marlins right-hander Dan Straily (3-3, 4.82 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Mets left-hander Steven Matz (3-5, 3.69 ERA).

The Marlins came back from an early two-run deficit Saturday to earn a 5-2 win over the Mets and their ace, right-hander Jacob deGrom. The win completed the best month of the season for Miami (34-50), which went 14-14 while winning five of nine series.

“That’s how you climb is continue to win series, continue to win series,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly told reporters Saturday. “Hopefully somewhere in there, you throw an eight- or 10-game winning streak together to really take a chunk out of something.”

The Mets (32-48) are doing the exact opposite. New York went 5-21 in June, during which it lost eight of nine series and split the other. It was the third-worst month in franchise history behind/ahead of only July 1963 (4-25) and August 1982 (5-24).

In the process, the Mets went from five games out of first place and eight games ahead of the Marlins to tie for last, 14 1/2 games out of first. The two teams are tied for the worst record in the NL, though Miami is technically percentage points ahead of New York heading into Sunday.

The Mets are 21-47 since opening 11-1, the best 12-game start in franchise history. Only the Baltimore Orioles have a worse record since Apr. 13.

The Mets have not been in last place in the NL East after July 1 since 2005, when they had a 77-77 record while occupying fifth place on Sept. 24. This squad appears far more likely to flirt with 100 losses than with .500, but rookie manager Mickey Callaway said he will continue to remain patient.

“We just have to keep on having daily conversations to try and right the ship,” Callaway told reporters Saturday. “It’s difficult right now. I know the players are feeling it. I know the fans are feeling it. We’re going to continue to do everything we can with the staff, the organization and the players to try and get in a better spot than we are. Because this isn’t acceptable to anybody.”

Straily earned the win in his most recent start last Monday, when he allowed three runs over 6 1/3 innings as the Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-5. Matz didn’t factor into the decision last Tuesday, when he gave up three runs over seven innings as the Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3.

Straily is 1-1 with a 3.04 ERA in five career starts against the Mets. Matz is 2-2 with a 3.67 ERA in five starts against the Marlins.