Hendricks survives hiccup as Cubs take series
WASHINGTON -- Kyle Hendricks knew he didn’t have his best stuff on Sunday night, but he still didn’t give up a hit until the fifth and survived a late Nationals charge to remain unbeaten this month as the Cubs held on for a 6-5 victory and a series win at Nationals Park.
Hendricks (4-4) retired the first 11 Washington hitters and did not allow a hit until Kurt Suzuki blooped a single to start the fifth. The right-hander ran into trouble and was removed with two outs in the sixth after he gave up a three-run homer to Anthony Rendon.
Overall, Hendricks said he made a lot of bad pitches, even when he was mowing down Nationals hitters early. To Hendricks, this wound up being a bit of a battle with himself -- and he was able to come out with a victory on a night when he wasn’t his best.
“I wasn’t attacking as well as I have been the last few games, and [my] fastball command kind of suffered from there,” Hendricks said. “I was kind of fighting myself, battling myself and couldn’t figure out why. I kept trying to be aggressive. I kept trying to attack, but it just wasn’t as good.”
Hendricks allowed four runs on six hits, with most of the damage coming on the Rendon blast. In four May starts, Hendricks has given up six runs while going 3-0.
He also helped on offense, picking up an RBI on a squeeze bunt when the Nationals couldn’t complete the play in the Cubs’ two-run sixth.
Anthony Rizzo helped with his seventh homer in his last 15 games, a solo shot to start the third, while Kyle Schwarber added two sacrifice flies and a run scored.
In fact, Hendricks said the offense was a big reason he came out of the game with a victory, as the Cubs scored single runs in each of the first four innings plus those two more in the sixth to grab a 6-1 lead.
“To battle and get through that many, it was huge. That the lineup kept grinding and extending the lead because I knew i didn’t quite have it,” Hendricks said.
Steve Cishek went the final 2 1/3 innings and earned his fourth save.
“That is above and beyond the [call],” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “He had really good stuff, really good location.”
Cishek said he knew that this night might mean more than one inning for him, so the right-hander was ready for it.
“It was fun,” Cishek said. “I’ve always said I just want to be able to help the team win in any capacity.”