Hendricks Locked In, Baffles Phillies, Leads Cubs to Win

Kyle Hendricks (3-4, 2.93 ERA) was completely dialed in today against the Phillies. He was in shut down mode scattering five hits over nine innings to get the complete game shut out. The Phillies were 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position against Hendricks. Flat out, the Phillies had NO CHANCE TODAY!

The Cubs (33-14) got their offense rolling early on a day when the wind was blowing hard straight out to center field. Dexter Fowler led off the game with an opposite field home run that looked like it got some assistance from said wind and the Cubs were up 1-0. Later in the inning, Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist each hit a double and before you knew it the score was 2-0.

Jason Heyward came up again in the second inning and, consequently, hit his second double of the day. That hit drove in Addison Russell but Kyle Hendricks, who Gary Jones shouldn’t have sent, got thrown out on a close play at home. Any other player and that send by Gary is fine, and he’s probably safe on the slide, but Hendricks was never going to slide and got punched out standing.

The Cubs added another run on a Montero RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning and and that was all Hendricks would need. Cubs win 4-1 (box score).

Stats that mattered

• Kyle Hendricks pitched his best game all year – 9IP, 1R (cheap run), 5H, 7Ks
• Jason Heyward broke out today – 2-for-4, 1R, 1RBI including 2 doubles
• Ben Zobrist keeps pouring it on – 2-for-4, 1RBI including a double
• Dexter Fowler’s lead off HR set the tone

Bottom line

With the win today, the Cubs win a close one….for them. They are now 16-12 in games decided by four runs or less and 17-2 in games decided by five runs or more. I was a little surprised that, with the wind blowing as hard out as it was, there wasn’t more scoring in this game. That’s what happens when you get solid pitching and really goes to show how good both sides were.

Next up

The Cubs will be looking for the sweep tomorrow as they close out the series against the Phillies. Ah, home sweet home. John Lackey, who’s been hot lately, will take the mound for the Cubs at 1:20 PM CDT.