Owings, making his second start for the Reds , survived 4 2 / 3 innings and gave up five runs (two earned) and five hits, while walking four.

Once again the Reds took bats to the plate for no apparent reason - only three hits in six innings against starter Rich Harden.

A victory would have put the Reds a half a game out of first place in the National League Central, but they dropped to fourth place at 7-6, 1? games behind the first-place Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jay Bruce, back in the lineup after missing three games with a bruised hand, bruised Harden in the second, smashing a home run over the right-field wall on the fourth pitch he saw.

Then Hoffpauir homered off Owings - believed to be the first Micah batter to homer against a Micah pitcher in Baseball history.

That made it 1-1, but the Cubs scored another run in the second inning on Ryan Theriot's RBI single after Aramis Ramirez singled and Mike Fontenot walked.

How about an even more unusual run that enabled the Reds to tie it 2-2 in the fourth?

It was Steve Bartman revisited. Bartman was the Cubs fan who reached out of the stands to snag a foul ball away from Chicago outfielder Moises Alou in the 2003 National League playoffs against the Florida Marlins.

With two outs Tuesday and Joey Votto on second base, Bruce lofted one down the left-field line - almost the same spot - and a fan reached over the railing and snagged it away from left fielder Alfonso Soriano.

Bruce then singled to score Votto and tie it.

The Cubs' Micah beat the Reds' Micah again in the fifth after Owings walked two and left fielder Chris Dickerson dropped a fly ball to fill the bases.

Hoffpauir lifted a deep sacrifice fly to center to push the Cubs in front 3-2. When Ramirez dropped a single on the right-field chalk for another run, Owings was removed, and the Cubs scored again when Mike Lincoln walked Geovany Soto with the bases loaded.