Five in a Row: Professor schools rival Cards |
ST. LOUIS - Make that 34 straight innings without giving up a run as the Chicago Cubs (46-49) pitching staff has upped their game to brand new level. Already with back-to-back shutouts under their belt, the Cubs turned to the Professor Kyle Hendricks to kick off their series with the St. Louis Cardinals (48-45) on Friday at Busch Stadium.
It's no secret that Hendricks has struggled a lot this season, but prior to his last outing, when he left with back stiffness, Hendricks was starting to look like the Hendricks of old. If there was a team to get him back on track, the Cardinals were that team, as Hendricks came into his start with a 1.31 ERA over his last five starts in Busch Stadium. Not only did Hendricks continue his strong run, but so did the Cubs, as they took down the Cardinals 5-1 for their fifth straight win and seventh in their last eight games. “Honestly, it took me a little bit to get into it today, like my lanes the first two innings, especially into the third, just a little off,” Hendricks said after the game. “I was a little up with stuff, but all day, Miggy [catcher Miguel Amaya] … was so engaged, keeping me in it, calling the right pitches to get me back on track and like giving me enough room for error to kind of get me through that.” Prior to the Cardinals' ninth-inning run, the Cubs went 34 straight innings without allowing a run. Since their win against Los Angeles on Sunday to start this winning streak, the Cubs haven't trailed in 45 straight innings, which is nearly impossible to believe. If there was a game where the Cubs offense would struggle this weekend, Friday was that game as the Cardinals sent their Ace Sonny Gray to the mound. As he has done in most starts this season, Gray kept his team in the game, allowing just three runs in seven innings despite allowing nine hits. He walked none and struck out six. As expected, runs didn't come easy in the early innings, as both pitchers kept their opposition in check through two innings. Once the third inning rolled around, the Cubs broke through, and once again, that run put them in front for good, and they never looked back. It all started with a Miles Mastrobuoni single to lead things off before advancing to second on an infield bunt single from Pete Crow-Armstrong. PCA said ZOOM 💨 pic.twitter.com/0PjXiAjwPj Chicago continued to play small ball, with Miguel Amaya moving both runners over with another bunt, which paved the way for the Nico Hoerner grounder to put the Cubs in front 1-0. Nico drives in the the first run of the game! pic.twitter.com/OTIaLOj4ut The Cubs added to their lead in the fourth as Ian Happ delivered a one-out double to set the offense up before coming home to score on the Dansby Swanson single. After going 0-23 at one point, Swanson has started to dial it back in as he is starting to look like the player the Cubs expected from day one. Despite holding a 2-0 lead, you never had a sense that two runs would be enough as the Cardinals put the leadoff man on base in three straight innings only to come away empty in each of those innings. That sounds a lot like the Cubs offense most of the season, as they were the worst offense in baseball for two months before turning things around the past few weeks. Looking to add some runs late, Mastrobuoni kept the pressure on Gray by leading off the top half with a single before going first to third on another Amaya single. Like a lot of the Cubs hitters, Amaya went through a terrible stretch offensively, but has now started to put some hits together to get his average close to .200. His hit proved crucial to the Cubs adding on with Hoerner delivering a sacrifice fly to push the Cubs lead to 3-0. Add it to the board, Nico. ⬆️#Cubs 3-0 pic.twitter.com/yFFRafuvt6 With Hendricks pitching the way he did through six innings, three runs would be all he needed to grab the win. He finished off his outing with a scoreless seventh, allowing just five hits with three punchouts to earn the win. “It's still a lot of luck," Hendricks said. "I don't know. There are so many good hitters over there. And I just keep putting my head down and try to make one pitch after another. But yeah, the guys making all the plays behind me, it's a good atmosphere, you know, Cubs-Cardinals is always fun. So, we embrace that, we enjoy it. “One pitch at a time, see what I can get through. But you know what we got coming tomorrow with a doubleheader, so it was good getting through five, you know, go back out for six, go back after seven and just try and cover a little bit, give us some room for tomorrow." Part of the reason for the Cardinals' recent surge to a playoff spot has been their bullpen, which has been huge for them in terms of their ability to win close games. They would need to come up huge again in this one, as both starters were out after seven, leaving this one in the hands of the bullpen. Chris Roycroft was the first one out of the pen for the Cardinals, and after retiring the first two hitters he faced, the Cubs began to mount a rally as singles from Christopher Morel and Swanson had the offense threatening again. That is when the game's biggest hit happened as David Bote came off the bench to deliver a massive pinch-hit double to push the Cub's lead to 5-0. Bote wants in on the fun!#Cubs extend the lead to 5-0. pic.twitter.com/Az8AjP02gy “It's a big part of baseball,” Counsell said. “You're going to get most of your big hits with two outs … and it is demoralizing for sure. You're almost out of an inning and then you got two runs on the board, and in our case, in the eighth, and that's a big deal.” Chicago maintained that lead until the ninth when Hunter Bigge was called on to close things out for the Cubs third shut out. Unlike in his debut, when Bigge was lights out against the Orioles, the hard-throwing right-hander struggled with his command. This led to the Cardinals ending the shutout with a Paul Goldschmidt single to pull St. Louis within 5-1. Bigge was out of the game following that single, as Hector Neris was called on to finish the game. Things didn't come easy for Neris once again as he loaded the bases to bring the potential tying run to the plate, but all that matters is he found a way to get out of the jam as the Cubs took care of business once again 5-1. The @Cubs have won 5 in a row, and 7 of their last 8 games 😏 pic.twitter.com/c0eNZX46dp The Cubs delivered double-digit hits for the fourth straight game and finished with 13 hits as Swanson, Amaya, Hoerner, and Mastrobuoni all had a pair of hits in the win. 32 scoreless innings. ✅ Kyle Hendricks credits Miguel Amaya for tonight’s success 👏 pic.twitter.com/Cl5nluB7yn
Hoerner: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
Swanson: 2-for-4, RBI, R
Bote: 1-for-1, 2B, 2 RBI pic.twitter.com/2NYiVSOY5Y
