Hendricks continues dominant run vs. Cardinals

ST. LOUIS -- Former Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright offered some tongue-in-cheek advice to Cubs manager Craig Counsell earlier this season.

“Wainwright said that to me a couple of series ago when we were here is that you should just put Kyle [Hendricks] out there against the Cardinals,” Counsell said.

Maybe the former Cardinals ace is on to something.

Hendricks wasted little time proving that a sore back that short-circuited his previous start was a thing of the past on Friday night at Busch Stadium.

The 34-year-old right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings as the Cubs won 5-1, claiming their seventh victory in their past eight games. Hendricks (2-7) scattered five hits, struck out three and walked one in his best start of the season.

“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. “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.”

The performance continued a career-long pattern of success for Hendricks against the Cardinals. Hendricks improved to 14-4 in 28 games (27 starts) with a 2.51 ERA against St. Louis. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last 16 1/3 innings vs. the Cardinals, going back to July 30, 2023.

“It's still a lot of luck,” Hendricks said. “I don't know. There's 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.”

Hendricks allowed the leadoff man to reach in three of his seven innings, but two of those runners were erased by double plays. None of the Cardinals’ six baserunners against him made it past first base.

“I do think there's something to a mound that you go on and you just love throwing from that mound and whether it be your home field or a road stadium that you have a lot of experience in,” Counsell said. “You're just comfortable on that mound and you've pitched so many times there, it can feel like a place you're really experienced at, and maybe that's what Kyle's got going here.”

Hendricks’ outing continued a string of dominance by North Side hurlers. Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI single off Hunter Bigge in the ninth snapped a run of 32 consecutive scoreless innings by the Cubs’ pitching staff and Chicago has held its opponents to just three total runs in its past 49 innings. The Cubs are the first team to allow three or fewer runs in a five-game span since the Orioles from Sept. 23-28, 2023, and it is the first time the Cubs have done so within a single season since Sept. 23-27, 1972, per MLB Research.

Just as important, Hendricks’ longevity saved Counsell from having to dive deep into his bullpen with a day-night doubleheader scheduled on Saturday.

“One pitch at a time, see what I can get through,” Hendricks said. “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.”

Pete Crow-Armstrong’s speed set up the Cubs’ first run of the game in the third. Crow-Armstrong followed Miles Mastrobuoni’s leadoff single with a bunt hit, just beating the toss from Gray to Goldschmidt. Crow-Armstrong hit 31.2 feet per second, the fastest home-to-first sprint speed by a Cub this season, according to Statcast. The bunt single led to a run-scoring groundout by Nico Hoerner, his first of two RBIs in the game, with the other coming on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Dansby Swanson’s two-out RBI single scored Ian Happ to make it 2-0 Cubs in the fourth. Swanson added another single in the eighth to give him three straight multi-hit games and seven hits in his past five games.

David Bote’s two-run pinch-hit double in the eighth made it 5-0. Three of the Cubs’ five runs came on two-out hits.

“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.”