CINCINNATI -- When opportunity has been knocking lately, the Cubs have had trouble getting to the door. 

Take Saturday for instance. The Cubs had a chance to break out in the top of the first inning when they loaded the bases. They couldn’t. They had runners on first and third with none out in the seventh and couldn’t break a 2-2 tie. 

Joey Votto and Eugenio Suárez would break their backs in the bottom of the seventh as Suarez’s single to right scored Votto from third to snap a tie and send the Cubs to their eighth straight loss, 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

“We scratched and clawed to get in a really good situation,” Cubs manager David Ross said of the rally gone wrong in the seventh. “To not be able to get that run across is kind of how things are going right now. We have to find a way to get that run in and we didn’t.”

The Cubs (42-41) now stand a half-game behind the Reds (42-40) in third place in the National League Central. 

“Whenever everybody is collectively struggling, it’s tough,” said Kris Bryant, who connected for a long solo homer in the third. “You have to find a way to forget -- good and bad.” 

“Just keep working,” Ross added. “You’ve got to try and build off the positives. KB swung the bat well. Some guys swung the bat well, but we’ve got to find a way to get this thing going.”

Votto and Tyler Naquin hit towering home runs off Adbert Alzolay to wipe out an early 2-0 lead. 

Alzolay allowed just five hits and three runs over seven innings, throwing just 82 pitches in an efficient, but losing, effort.

“I think it was a really, really nice step forward in helping the staff,” Alzolay said. “It’s baseball. We’ve got three more months. We’ll keep lifting each other up.”

Early, it seemed like the Cubs were going to take advantage of a break to jump-start their moribund offense. They teetered on the brink of stranding another runner on third base when Joc Pederson came to the plate. 

Facing an 0-2 count, Reds starter Tyler Mahle threw a four-seam fastball that rose just above the target set by rookie catcher Tyler Stephenson. The Reds’ catcher raised his mitt slightly to make what should’ve been a routine grab. Instead, the pitch glanced off his mitt and halfway to the first-base on-deck circle, just far enough for Rafael Ortega to race home and beat the tag of Mahle covering at the plate.

Just an inning earlier, the Cubs rallied as Anthony Rizzo’s third hit in 16 at-bats on the trip was sandwiched in between walks to Javier Báez and Willson Contreras. But Mahle escaped the bases-loaded jam when he fanned Jason Heyward.

“I try to focus on the things where we’re getting better,” Ross said before the game. “We did take more walks in the Brewers series and I think Nico [Hoerner returning from injury] will help with some of that. I also see too many strikeouts. You’re giving away 12 to 13 outs a night. That’s part of our game and part of our personnel. Some of that comes with home runs and walks. You hate to give away multiple innings of outs just from the strikeouts.”

It was Bryant’s 16th homer of the year -- a 410-foot majestic shot to the lower seats in left -- that put the Cubs up 2-0 in the third. 

“It’s very frustrating," Bryant said of the team's skid. "We’ve just got to keep our heads up. You can’t let this game beat you up. It’s pretty crazy what this game will do to you. You don’t see this in any other sport. You have to be a little bit crazy [to handle it].” 

But the strikeouts continue to be a major problem. Heyward struck out twice to end innings, and Pederson was bailed out in the second by the passed ball, as he whiffed on the next pitch.

In seven solid innings, Alzolay rebounded from his three-inning, six-run start in L.A. last Sunday. He appeared to run out of gas in the seventh when Votto worked a walk and Stephenson doubled him to third before Suárez's decisive knock.

“I just threw that last outing into the trash right away,” Alzolay said. “My bullpen during these five days was pretty much the same and I felt strong out there. I know who I am as a pitcher right now. I just gave my team seven innings.”