Hendricks throws gem in Cubs win over Reds |
CHICAGO - In what could be the end of an era, Chicago Cubs (83-78) right-hander Kyle Hendricks took the ball one last time as the Cubs looked to clinch their series against the Cincinnati Reds (76-85). The last remaining member of the 2016 World Series team, Hendricks has been a part of this organization for more than a decade and was one of the best to do it for most of his tenure.
Entering his start with a 48-40 career record at Wrigley Field and a 3.31 ERA, class has been in session a lot over his career, but that hasn't been the case in 2024. Despite going through the worst season of his career, Hendricks was able to savor the moment one last time as he went out in style. Across his 7 1/3 innings on Saturday, Hendricks was as close to vintage form as he could be as he held the Reds scoreless and allowed only two hits. It was the type of outing the Cubs have been waiting for all season, and with his long-time pitching coach Tommy Hottovy coming out to remove him from the game, you knew what was coming next as he received the ovation he rightfully deserved. The only thing better would've been finding a way for him to earn the victory in his final start, but nonetheless, it was the Cubs scoring three times in the eighth to pick up their second consecutive shutout, 3-0. Ideally, you would love more offense at this point in the season, but a win is a win, and the Cubs are guaranteed to have, at worst, the same record they had last season. Opposing Hendricks was the Reds' young right-hander Rhett Lowder, who continued to impress on the mound. Lowder had some command issues at times, walking three and striking out one, but with no runs allowed through five innings, he will finish his rookie season with a 1.17 ERA and will be a major part of the Reds' future. This was one of those games where both teams had a chance to score early, especially the Cubs in the bottom of the first as they wasted a two-on and two-out chance. Anytime you waste a scoring opportunity early in the game, they tend to haunt you later on, but with the Reds offense doing next to nothing off Hendricks most of the game, the Cubs were able to dodge a bullet. Then came the bottom of the third where the Cubs were not only threatening, but had their best overall opportunity of the day until late. Ian Happ got things started with a one-out single before a pair of walks from Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki loaded the bases with two outs. Needing a big hit to break the scoreless tie, Lowder got Michael Busch to fly out as he stranded five baserunners in his first two at-bats. At this point in the game, Hendricks got on a roll as he retired the next 11 batters he faced to send this game to the seventh deadlocked 0-0. After retiring the first batter he faced in the seventh, Spencer Steer ended the streak with a one-out walk, only to have TJ Friedl come through with a single to set the Reds up with their best scoring chance of the game. As he has done so much in his career, Hendricks made the pitches he needed to make and was able to escape trouble as things remained 0-0. Hendricks was able to face one more batter and after retiring Santiago Espinal to open the eight, it was time to go to the bullpen as Hendricks was lifted from the game in favor of Tyson Miller. Miller did allow a hit to the first batter he faced, but with Miguel Amaya throwing out Noelvi Marte trying to steal second, Miller got out of the eighth with no runs allowed as things remained 0-0. It took the Cubs eight innings to push home the games first run, but better late than never. All it took to get the offense going was a leadoff double from Dansby Swanson as that was the end of the day for Justin Wilson. Buck Farmer took over from there and after Bellinger picked up a single, Farmer elected to walk Suzuki and loaded the bases with no outs. This was a strategy that many teams go with, but in this case it backfired in the Reds face as Isaac Paredes brought home the winning run with a single as the Cubs took a 1-0 lead. That forece the Reds to go back to their pen as it was time for Alexis Diaz to take over. Diaz managed to retire the first batter he faced, keeping an inning ending double play intact, but with Pete Crow-Armstrong cashing in with a single the Cubs doubled their lead to 2-0 with the bases still loaded. One batter later, the Cubs pushed their lead to 3-0 as Mike Tauchman worked a bases loaded walk. Diaz managed to bounce back after that walk as he got the next two Cubs hitters to pop out to end the inning, but with three runs across the damage was done with the Cubs three outs away from finishing things off. Enter, Porter Hodge as the rookie was looking for back to back saves and his ninth save of the season. One of the more surprising storylines of the season, Hodge has been lights out in relief and that continued by retiring the Reds in order for the second straight game to lift the Cubs to the 3-0 win. Chicago had eight hits in the game from seven different players as Suzuki led the way with two.
