Cody Bellinger drove in the tiebreaking run with a ricochet infield single in the eighth inning and the Chicago Cubs beat Milwaukee 3-2 on Wednesday to pull within three games of the first-place Brewers in the NL Central.

Bellinger’s sharply hit ball up the middle glanced off the right ankle of reliever Joel Payamps and to third baseman Andruw Monasterio. Bellinger beat out Monasterio’s throw, allowing Mike Tauchman to score from third. It was Chicago's third and final hit of the game.

After dropping the first game of the series Monday, the Cubs came back to take the next two with solid pitching and defense. At 71-62, Chicago is a season-high nine games above .500.

Bellinger, with 18 RBIs in his last 12 games and a major league-leading 54 since July, has helped lead Chicago's climb back into the playoff picture.

The Cubs are squarely in the wild card mix.

Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks pitched six crisp innings, allowing only an unearned run on four hits while striking out six and walking two.

Cubs: LHP Jordan Wicks (1-0, 1.80) faces Reds RHP Graham Ashcraft (7-8, 4.73) on Friday in Cincinnati.