Kyle Hendricks pitches 7 scoreless innings as Cubs extend winning streak to 5 games Originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago
Kyle Hendricks He allowed five hits in seven scoreless innings and Nico Hoerner and David Bote Each drove in two runs while the Chicago Cubs extended their season-best winning streak to five games with a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
“I was just trying to take it easy,” Hendricks said. “You know what we’re in for tomorrow with the doubleheader, so it was good to get through five. We’ll play six again, we’ll play seven again and just try to cover a little bit to give us some room for tomorrow.”
Hendricks (2-7) did not allow a runner to reach second base and finished with three strikeouts and one walk. The 34-year-old right-hander has not allowed a run in 11 1/3 innings over two appearances against St. Louis this season and is 14-4 with a 2.51 ERA in 27 appearances (26 starts) against the Cardinals.
“It’s the same uniform but different players,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I think there’s something about a mound that you go to and you love pitching from, whether it’s at your home field or a visiting ballpark where you have a lot of experience. You get comfortable on that mound and you pitch so many times there that you can feel like it’s a place you have a lot of experience, and maybe that’s what Kyle has here.”
The Cardinals’ Sonny Gray (9-6) allowed three runs and nine hits and struck out six in seven innings. St. Louis has lost three straight after winning six of its previous eight.
“I thought he did a really good job,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He used his sinker more than he has in the past. He was in really good shape. He also hit the curveball pretty often. Those two pitches were good for him. The other ones were good, too, but I thought he handled himself well in that lineup. He had a couple of good swings, but overall I thought he looked pretty good.”
Masyn Winn and Willson Contreras walked, and Paul Goldschmidt hit an RBI single in the ninth inning. Hunter Bigge to snap a scoreless streak of 32 2/3 innings by Cubs pitchers.
“When you have good starting pitching, you feel like you have a chance to win every night and you feel like you’re in every game,” Counsell said. “That’s what our starters have done all year. … That does a lot for your team and it gives you a lot of confidence when you can turn the page the next day and know you have someone who can score zeroes.”
Hector Neris He allowed a two-out walk to Nolan Arenado to load the bases before striking out Lars Nootbaar for his 13th save in 17 chances.
Bote hit a pinch-hit, two-run double in the eighth to extend Chicago’s lead to 5-0.
Ian Happ doubled in the fourth and scored in ‘Dansby Swanson’single to left field, giving the Cubs a 2-0 lead.
Miles Mastrobuoni He singled to open the third inning and advanced to second. ‘Pete Crow Armstrong’The batter singled and scored on Hoerner’s groundout to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
Cubs reliever Lucas little He left the game in the eighth inning with right shoulder discomfort after throwing four pitches to Nootbaar.
TRAINERS ROOM
Cubs: Right-hander Yency Almonte (right shoulder strain) underwent surgery Friday to repair his labrum. … Right-hander Adbert Alzolay (right flexor strain) threw a live batting practice session at the team’s training facility in Mesa, Ariz.
Cardinals: Activated C Ivan Herrera (lower back soreness) from the 10-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Memphis. … INF/OF Tommy Edman (sprained right wrist) was 0 for 3 with a walk as the designated hitter for Double-A Springfield as he continued his rehab assignment Friday night.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Right-hander Lance Lynn (4-4, 4.48 ERA) will start for the Cardinals in the first game of a split doubleheader on Saturday, with right-hander Kyle Gibson (7-3, 3.96 ERA) scheduled to start Saturday’s nightcap. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski (3-5, 3.67 ERA) will start Saturday’s opener for the Cubs, who will activate right-hander Javier Assad (4-3, 3.04 ERA) from the 15-day injured list to start Game 2.