Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - Rookie Johnny Cueto put together a solid performance on the mound, as the Cincinnati Reds survived a late scare from the Chicago Cubs and held on for a 5-3 win in the opener of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.

Cueto (2-3) allowed three runs on six hits, walked two and struck out eight over six innings to pick up the win. Francisco Cordero overcame a shaky ninth inning to nail down his fifth save of the season.

Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer, while Jeff Keppinger drove in two runs for the Reds, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Cincinnati mustered only six hits.

Ryan Dempster (4-1) gave up five unearned runs on four hits and fanned seven in six innings to absorb the loss for Chicago, which has dropped eight of its last 11 outings.

Geovany Soto finished 3-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI, while Ryan Theriot was 2-for-4 with a double and a run batted in.

In the ninth, Cordero gave up back-to-back singles to Mike Fontenot and Felix Pie. After pinch-hitter Daryle Ward lined out, Alfonso Soriano drew a walk to load the bases. With Theriot batting, Cordero threw a slider in the dirt that got past catcher Paul Bako. Fontenot broke for home on the play and was tagged out by Cordero for out number two. Theriot eventually earned a free pass to reload the bases for Derrek Lee, who grounded out to end the game.

The Reds grabbed a 3-0 lead right out of the chute. Consecutive infield hits by Ken Griffey Jr. and Brandon Phillips, coupled with a costly fielding error by Chicago second baseman Fontenot on a grounder hit by Joey Votto, loaded the bases. Edwin Encarnacion then drew a one-out walk to bring in a run. Keppinger followed a strikeout by Dunn with a broken-bat hit to center that knocked in Phillips and Votto.

Chicago got a run back in the second on Soto's sixth home run of the season, but Dunn belted a two-run shot deep to the bleachers in right field in the third to make it 5-1. The hit scored Encarnacion, who got on thanks to an error from third baseman Mark DeRosa.

The Cubs chipped away at the deficit with two runs in the fifth. Soriano reached on a two-out single and came around to score on a double by Theriot. Theriot was then waved home on a base hit by Lee.

Mike Lincoln tossed a 1-2-3 seventh for Cincinnati, and David Weathers, activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game, worked around a two- out double by Soto in the eighth.