Down on the Farm: Kyle Hendricks dominant in Iowa Cubs’ win

Round Rock 0 – Iowa 2

As noted, Kyle Hendricks was masterful in his latest start, tossing eight innings of shutout, three-hit baseball against the Round Rock Express, leading the Iowa Cubs to a 2-0 win at home on Thursday night.

Iowa (21-16) scored a run in both the second and third innings, and for the duration of the contest, neither offense managed another tally. With two outs in the second, Jonathan Mota singled to center to score Christian Villanueva to push across the first run of the game. In the next inning, Josh Vitters hit an RBI single to left, scoring Arismendy Alcantara to make it a 2-0 Cubs’ lead, which is where the score would remain.

Round Rock (19-20) managed just the three hits in the contest, but its pitching staff performed well. Express starter Joe Saunders (0-1, 3.60 ERA) pitched well, allowing just two earned runs in five innings. He allowed seven hits and walked three, but also tallied seven strikeouts in the losing effort.

A pair of Round Rock relievers combined for three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit in relief of Saunders.

Matt Szczur and Arismendy Alcantara each led the Cubs’ offense with a pair of hits, respectively. Alcantara is now hitting .270 on the year for Iowa, while Szczur is still struggling, hitting just .238.

Blake Parker pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save of the season.