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Kyle Hendricks take center stage in San Francisco on ESPN

By David Miniel

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What if I told you that this season has already been labeled as a success? With only five days remaining in the month of August, the Chicago Cubs tied their 2014 record after defeating the San Francisco Giants late last night by the final score of 8-5.

Right-handed ace, Jake Arrieta turned in his 13th quality start – holding the defending champions to one unearned run on four hits in six innings of work. He was backed up by multiple homers, the first being a three-run shot off the bat of rookie slugger Kyle Schwarber in the third inning.

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Both Miguel Montero and Starlin Castro chipped in to help extend the Cubs (73-51) lead to 7-0 before the Giants (66-59) stormed back during the final three innings of the ballgame to cut the lead down to just three runs.

Tonight, it’ll be up to Kyle Hendricks to extend this winning streak to seven games and their lead to 8.5 over San Francisco for the second N.L. Wild Card spot. Hendricks (6-5, 4.03 ERA) is coming off his second consecutive no-decision against the Atlanta Braves in which he allowed three earned runs on seven hits in five innings.

His second start of the month came against tonight’s host back on Aug. 8th where he surrendered another three earned run five hits including a big fly in 5 1/3 frames opposite Matt Cain.

He’ll square up against Jon Lester‘s former teammate in Jake Peavy. Peavy (3-6, 4.35 ERA) picked up his sixth loss of the campaign in the weekend series in Pittsburgh.

The 34-year-old right-hander gave up four earned runs on seven hits with two free passes and five strikeouts across six innings. Unlike Madison Bumgarner, Peavy did make a start in that four-game sweep to the Cubs earlier this month.

Chicago was held to two runs on four hits before he was relieved in the sixth.

Another interesting note for tonight’s match-up is that Schwarber’s batting lead-off for Joe Maddon. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out with Dexter Fowler getting the night off.

First pitch is slated for another 9:15 p.m. central time start and will be aired on CSN, ESPN, and WBBM 780.

Here’s a look at tonight’s starting lineup’s for both clubs:

Next: Cubs: The revival of closer Hector Rondon

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