Late heroics give Cards win in Game 1 of DH

For six innings Monday afternoon, Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks once again vexed most of the Cardinals' lineup with his off-speed stuff. But in the seventh and final inning of the first game of a doubleheader, the Cardinals came through off him and came away with a 3-1 win at Wrigley Field.

With St. Louis locked in a 1-1 tie, Paul Goldschmidt doubled to lead off the seventh inning off Hendricks, who then walked Tyler O’Neill after the left fielder had struck out swinging twice before. Matt Carpenter loaded the bases with a single to right field, and after Dylan Carlson hit into a fielder’s choice, reliever Rowan Wick came in to face Brad Miller.

• Box score

Miller drove Wick's second pitch to left-center field for a two-run double, the lead and the eventual victory after Andrew Miller -- who has emerged as the Cardinals' closer since the team returned to the field -- retired the Cubs in order in the bottom of the seventh.

Hendricks’ only mistake before the seventh was a hanging fastball to former teammate Dexter Fowler, who drove it to the left-field bleachers in the third inning. Otherwise, the right-hander held off St. Louis the way he typically has. Entering Monday’s game, he had a 2.93 career ERA against the Cardinals, usually fooling them with his breaking ball -- until the seventh inning on Monday, when the middle of the order was able to jump on his changeup.

“Hendricks has historically given us fits," manager Mike Shildt said. "We’re continuing to figure him out. We did -- and I say this a lot -- but we did get better as the game went against him. Just kept taking good at-bats, guys had good dialogue, real professional.”

Lefty Kwang Hyun Kim got to the brink of what was likely a 60-pitch limit for his first start as a Cardinal after dealing with a laborious first inning. Touted for his command, Kim didn’t walk many in the Korean Baseball Organization. It was understandable that he might have had a little bit of nerves heading into his first start, and he acknowledged as much after the game. He even pitched the first inning wearing his batting practice cap, only realizing his mistake when a trainer put the correct one next to him in the dugout.

“I was a little nervous,” Kim said through interpreter Craig Choi. “It’s been a while since I’ve pitched, so I’m looking forward to the next game.”

In the first inning, Kim walked Anthony Rizzo and gave up a double to Javier Báez. With one out, the Cardinals elected to walk Willson Contreras to load the bases, and it paid off: Kim struck out Ian Happ swinging on three pitches and got David Bote to ground out to shortstop Tommy Edman.

“Even though it was bases loaded, my thought process was, if I get one out and the runner scores, that’s OK with me,” Kim said. “So I tried to be very comfortable in that situation, even though it’s not easy. So that was what my mindset was during the bases-loaded [situation].”

After a clean second inning -- and a 1-0 lead -- Kim got into trouble again when Kris Bryant singled and Rizzo walked. But Kim induced a double-play ball from Báez, and Contreras lined out to Goldschmidt to end the inning without incident.

The only damage off Kim came the next inning, when Happ got all of Kim’s 88-mph fastball slightly up in the zone for a solo homer. Kim got the next two outs and exited after 3 2/3 innings, 57 pitches and one strikeout.