'Master surgeon' Hendricks comes 4 outs shy of 2023's 1st no-no

SAN FRANCISCO -- The pitch count was rising, but Kyle Hendricks’ blood pressure was stable. The Cubs right-hander, in his fourth start after missing nearly 11 months with a torn shoulder capsule, would have needed to throw considerably more than his season high of 86 pitches to finish the no-hitter that seemed to be in his grasp.

After seven innings and 81 pitches, Hendricks was looking ahead to the six hitters he needed to get, not backward at the bullpen to see if his health-minded manager was fixing to yank him.

“I knew if I kept rolling like that, I was going to stay in there,” Hendricks said after the Cubs beat the Giants, 4-0, Saturday at Oracle Park.

Chicago secured the series victory even if Hendricks could not secure the 18th no-hitter in Cubs history. With two outs in the eighth, Giants left fielder Mitch Haniger drove a 3-2 fastball off the wall in left-center for a clean double that nearly left the park. The no-hit bid was over, and one pitch later so was Hendricks’ terrific eight-inning effort.

Julian Merryweather pitched a perfect ninth to finish the combined one-hitter, which also featured solo homers by Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel, the latter breaking an 0-for-22. Morel added a two-run single.

This was an important win with or without the history that was lost with Haniger’s double. It gave the Cubs a chance to sweep the series Sunday for a 5-5 trip through San Diego, Anaheim and San Francisco that was headed the wrong way as the Angels swept them.

Moreover, Hendricks demonstrated that he had rediscovered his rhythm post-injury and could add a significant level of consistency to the rotation.

“It’s really like watching a master surgeon,” center fielder Mike Tauchman said. “The hit does not take away from how great he was today.”

“Great” is not an exaggerated way to describe the catch that Tauchman made to rob Brandon Crawford of extra bases with one out in the third inning, which would have been “that play” had Hendricks finished the Majors’ first no-hitter of 2023.

Tauchman was shaded to left-center and had to race beyond straightaway center before lunging toward right field, making a backhanded catch then crashing into the warning track.

Tauchman was a Giant in 2021 and is known in San Francisco for one thing: his leap over the left-field wall at Dodger Stadium to rob Albert Pujols of what everyone thought was a two-out, walk-off homer in the ninth.

“That was a good one, too,” Tauchman said without a hint of irony.

Hendricks called the catch “unbelievable. Off the bat I think it’s a homer. Then I kind of see it’s coming up short in that alleyway there, Triples Alley. And he lays out. It’s one of the best catches I’ve seen. I loved him for it.”

Saturday’s game marked a significant departure for Hendricks. For the first time, he called his own game using the PitchCom system. He wanted to try it to get into a better rhythm with his rookie catcher, Miguel Amaya.

Nonetheless, Hendricks credited Amaya with noticing the way the Giants lefties were crowding the plate and suggested an adjustment for the pitcher. Hendricks had surrendered a lot of loud outs early, but none after his chat with Amaya.

Hendricks knew early he was no-hitting the Giants.

“I realized I walked a guy already,” he said, referring to Michael Conforto in the second inning. “I didn’t want to pitch around guys to get [the no-hitter]. I just wanted to stay on the attack, keep making my pitches, and whatever happens, happens.”

What happened was Haniger’s booming double. Hendricks said he threw the pitch he wanted to the spot he wanted. He just thought Haniger was in “take mode” with a full count and guessed wrong.

“I thought it was 10, 15 rows deep, to be honest with you,” Hendricks said. “So when it hit the wall, it just surprised me that it stayed in. I had to refocus and get back to making a good pitch to the next guy.”

When Blake Sabol hit that pitch to left field for Hendricks’ 24th out, he was done at 94 pitches. Cubs manager David Ross confirmed he was not going to pull his pitcher after eight innings with a no-hitter even if his pitch count moved into triple digits.

“With that zero on the board,” Ross said, “I’m going to let him go back out and see what he can do.”